


The Wanderer and his Shadow

by Herr_Wozzeck



Series: They Who Fight Monsters [2]
Category: Beyond: Two Souls, Mass Effect
Genre: Deconstruction, Gen, Original Alien Races, Parallel Galaxy, Parallel Realities
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-23
Updated: 2016-07-23
Packaged: 2018-03-08 18:43:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 232,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3219440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Herr_Wozzeck/pseuds/Herr_Wozzeck
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jodie has helped take Saren down, meeting several friends along the way. But as she uncovers more of the galactic conspiracy around Shepard, she realizes that there is something deeply horrifying lurking underneath the surface. Knowing that this conspiracy could threaten all of the galaxy, she sets out to find the truth. Will she be able to find it before the conspiracy swallows her whole? Part Two of They Who Fight Monsters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Parallel Realities](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/94310) by InHarmsWay. 



> Hey guys, welcome back to this thing! Well, we're back to the swing of things, right? I don't really have too much to say except for the usual disclaimers.
> 
> But anyway, this marks the next chapter of our story, right? Let's do it!

"Jodie, are you sure this is a good idea?"

"We don't have any other choice, Ashley. We have to at least tell Anderson about this. I don't care who else he tells,  _someone_ needs to know."

"I don't know..."

"If we spring it all suddenly on them, they're not going to take it well. We have to tell someone first, at least about what we know so far."

"I hope you're right..."

Jodie nodded, standing outside Anderson's door. Ashley accompanied her on this journey. Shepard had taken leave, and Tali and Garrus had gone with him on what the commander had termed a "much-needed vacation". Thanks to the message Liara had left behind, though, Jodie had a feeling she knew what the commander was really doing.

Jodie shook her head, looking back at the door. "It's taking him a while."

"Well, he is a Councillor now," Ashley replied, leaning against the wall. "He's probably just busy. He has a lot of other responsibilities, you know."

"That's true..." She then looked up. "Aiden, what's he doing in there?"

The entity chirped, Jodie quirking an eyebrow at the entity. "Really?" she asked. "Well, isn't that-"

And then, the door opened. Admiral... no,  _Councillor_ Anderson stood there. Jodie noticed his wrinkled face for the first time since she had seen him, studying all the furrows in the Councillor's aging face. He wore quite a different uniform, though: this one was a very dark blue, a much darker blue than was present on the Alliance's formal uniforms. This uniform also had a red border around it, and seemed much more common to a politician.

Jodie pulled at the sleeves of her jacket, before bowing her head to the councillor. "Anderson," she greeted.

"Admiral," said Ashley as she saluted Anderson.

Anderson shook his head. "At ease, soldier," he said. "I'm a Councillor now. No use calling me an Admiral."

"With all due respect, sir, you'll always be an Admiral to me," Ashley replied.

Anderson nodded. "Fair enough," he said. "I guess we can talk more about the matter you've brought up inside my office?"

"Yes," said Jodie.

"Come in," said Anderson, gesturing into the office. Jodie saw a couple of boxes strewn about, the walls somewhat empty of personal effects. "You'll have to excuse the mess, I haven't had much time to settle in."

"I've been in messier situations, trust me," Jodie replied as she stepped in. Ashley followed, the door closing behind them as they stepped into Anderson's office.

"I'm going to guess the Council is still getting used to you," said Ashley.

"They're doing their best," Anderson conceded. "With a Citadel to rebuild, they've got their attention focused on other things. It's given me time to get used to it."

"I can imagine," said Jodie. She then rubbed her forearms. "That's not important right now. We have things we need to talk to you about."

"About Shepard, right?" asked Anderson. He turned to them. "Why not take it up with him?"

Jodie sighed. "I've got reason to believe he's been dishonest with us," she said. "And I don't know what he's after, but given what I've seen, this isn't something that I think we should talk about while he's in the same room."

Anderson frowned. "He saved the Council," he said. "Don't you think he deserves to know about that just on the strength of that?"

Jodie shook her head, stepping towards the Councillor. "He committed a war crime right under your noses," Jodie replied.

Anderson leaned forward, his expression stern. "That's a pretty serious accusation," he said. "What do you have to prove it?"

Jodie glanced down at the ground, before looking directly at Anderson. "It's... a little difficult to explain," she said. She then paused, stepping towards him and studying him.

It was after Aiden chirped above her a few times that she nodded, before holding her hands up, palms out-turned. "I guess the best way to explain it is to just show you," she said. "Take my hands."

Anderson's frown deepened, the Councillor edging away slightly. "Take your hands?" he asked.

Ashley stepped forward. "Jodie won't do anything to hurt you, sir," Ashley chimed in. "I can promise you that."

The former admiral cast a skeptical glance at Ashley. The gunnery chief nodded, holding her hands behind her back at attention. He then paused, turning over to Jodie and seeing her palms outstretched to him. He looked at her for a few seconds, his frown intensifying.

Finally, Anderson sighed, placing his hands within Jodie's palms. "I can't believe I'm doing this," he said.

Jodie shrugged. "I think you'll find it's not as silly as you'd think at first," she said. "Trust me, there is a point to it."

"I still don't know how this could prove anything," said Anderson.

"I know, and I know how heavy an accusation of war crimes would be," Jodie said. "But trust me. I know what I'm doing." She bit her lip, before looking back at Anderson. "Oh! Whatever happens, don't let go of my hand. If you do, that will break the-"

But before Jodie could finish her sentence, she suddenly threw her head back with a light motion. She then brought her head back forward, her head tilted at a very slight angle upwards. She looked directly at Anderson, or he assumed that, anyway: Jodie's eyes had gone completely white, such that even her pupils had disappeared. A scowl formed on her face, her lips curving in a way that no human lips should have curved.

"Jodie?" Ashley asked.

"What... what are you doing?" Anderson asked.

" _Of all the conversations I wanted to avoid having when I was dead, this one was on the top of my list._ "

And then, Anderson jumped, almost letting go of Jodie's hands. Jodie had opened her mouth, but the voice that came out surprised even Ashley, for it was no voice that Jodie should have been able to make. The trappings of the voice that came out of her mouth were all turian, of course: the odd ways the consonants clicked, the way the subharmonics fluctuated, even the fact that Jodie's voice had acquired subharmonics at all was astonishing considering that the human throat was incapable of making them.

However, that was not what caused Anderson to jump. The first, was that the turian voice that came out of Jodie was also distinctly male. And the second, was that Anderson recognized the voice.

"Saren?" he asked, his eyes widening in disbelief.

" _So you humans_ can  _do that._ " Jodie chuckled, the sound lush with subharmonics. " _I'm surprised you didn't do it more._ "

Anderson frowned very deeply. "I don't know what you're doing, Jodie, but it needs to end right now!" said Anderson. "This is not a joke!"

" _Neither was that refinery I blew up,_ " said Saren, Jodie's expression suddenly turning a little sarcastic. " _Did you really think for one second I cared about that precious Kahlee Sanders?_ "

Anderson's breath hitched, and Ashley gasped. "How... how do you know that?" Anderson asked.

" _Hm, still can't figure it out?_ " Jodie quirked her shoulder in a strange way, something Anderson recognized as body language Saren would have used. " _She's not in control of her words now, I am. You're hearing me from beyond the grave, human._ " Jodie then seemed to glance at her arms before turning her attention back to Anderson. " _And of all people, it's a human channeling me, too. Ironic, isn't it?_ "

Anderson shook his head, looking down. "I see," Anderson replied with a bitter chuckle as he faced Jodie again. "Is that why you sabotaged my Spectre candidacy?"

" _It would've been too soon_ _,_ " said Jodie. " _You were too young. Impatient. You would've posed a threat, and why, so the Council could buddy up to a new race they knew could destroy them easily? Don't make me laugh._ " Jodie let out a sharp scoff. " _But, I guess it doesn't matter now. You've got a Council seat. Congratulations. I'll be here while you destroy the galaxy._ "

Anderson frowned. "I'm going to keep order in this galaxy no matter what," said Anderson. "You don't have to agree with me, but the last thing I want to do is to destroy this galaxy that I've lived in."

" _Hmph,_ " said Saren. " _I'll be the judge of that._ " Jodie shook his head. " _When your actions cause the end of the galaxy as we know it, know that you'll be the only one responsible. I don't have time for this. Goodbye, Councillor. I only hope you can prove me wrong._ "

And then, Jodie blinked, her eyes returning to their usual brown color. She looked at Anderson, somewhat surprised by the angry look he was giving her. She leaned back, releasing Anderson's hands as she breathed in. She looked back at Ashley, before bowing her head apologetically.

"I'm sorry," Jodie said, her voice returned to normal. "I... I don't think either of us realized just how much history you had with Saren."

"Either of you?" Anderson asked, frowning. "Jodie, what the  _hell_ was that?"

Jodie sighed. "Either of us... meaning me and  _him_ ," said Jodie. She then looked around the room, before leaning forward. "I've been attached to an...  _entity_ for as long as I can remember. His name is Aiden, and he's a supernatural entity." She sighed, looking at Anderson. "You've only seen part of what he can do. It's a long explanation, but... He tipped me off to so many things."

"And you expect me to believe that," said Anderson as he crossed his arms.

Ashley nodded, stepping forward. "If it helps, sir, I saw what Aiden could do myself," she said. "I can tell you he's very real indeed."

"I melded with Liara, and she saw everything," Jodie added. "If you really want, I'd submit myself to a meld with an asari of your choice. I can't really hide anything in there, you know?"

Anderson's frown lessened a little, before he uncrossed his arms. "So this  _Aiden_ ," said Anderson. "It helped you see something about Shepard."

"He can give me...  _visions_  of things that've passed," said Jodie. "And one of them... Actually, a lot of things have been revealed because of that. I don't know how to begin."

"You can start by telling me what war crime he's committed," said Anderson. "I shouldn't have to tell you how serious that is."

Jodie nodded. "Do you mind if I have a seat?" she asked. "This will take a while."

Anderson nodded, pointing to one of the couches around the room. "Of course," he said.

Jodie nodded, following Anderson to the couch. Ashley did the same, and all three of them sat around a glass coffee table, Jodie looking at Anderson. Jodie settled in, looking up at the ceiling of the office.

"Sir..." Jodie began, looking down. "I'd like to start by asking something: have you been receiving any reports on Balak's mental state?"

Anderson frowned. "I'll need to get those reports from Admiral Hackett now," said Anderson. "I don't get them myself anymore, now that I'm the Councillor."

"Get them," said Jodie. "Shepard... did  _something_ that made him start to go insane. If I'm right about the pace of how it's going on, the madness should be starting to set in."

Anderson frowned. "Shepard made him go insane?" he asked. "I've fought batarians before, Jodie. The ones I fought were insane."

Jodie shook her head. "No, you don't understand," she said. "He did something physical. In the vision I saw, he described it as a kind of a... a  _gift_ of enlightenment or something like that. He just stared into his eyes, and..." She then shook her head. "There are other things he's guilty of, too." She then looked up at Anderson. "Everything you know about him is a lie..."

Anderson nodded, leaning close. "How?" he asked.

Jodie breathed in. "It's all an act on his part," said Jodie. She then leaned forward. "But I saw right through it. And the truth behind Shepard..."

She then explained everything she knew about Shepard.

* * *

"And that's all I know. I don't know what else he's up to, but..."

"I see..." Anderson looked at the glass of brandy he had poured himself. He sighed, leaning back and drinking some of it before setting it on the table. "This is all a little hard for me to believe, even with what you showed me."

Jodie nodded, nursing her own glass of brandy in her hand. "I understand, sir," she replied. "Honestly, even with what we know now, I'm not sure we can prove enough to the Council to get them to take this seriously."

"Do you know if they would threaten the Council?" Anderson asked.

"I... don't know," said Jodie. "My gut is telling me they are, but I have nothing to prove that with."

"Then you need to be able to tell me what kind of threat they are, if they even are a threat," said Anderson.

Ashley shifted next to Jodie, crossing her arms. "Well, we know they want to deal with Cerberus, and that their leader is willing to masquerade as a human to get that," said Ashley.

"But Cerberus is not relevant enough to the Council's interests, at least not now," said Anderson. "Cerberus and Shepard's organization have history together. But with the Council?" He paused, leaning back. "There's too little certainty, even with the impersonation of a human. Even if I gave what you have now to the Council, they wouldn't take it."

Jodie nodded, glancing up at Aiden as he chirped. "Ash had a feeling you might say that," Jodie replied. "As for me... I figured maybe you would've been able to help."

"Well, there's not much I can do right now," said Anderson. "My hands are tied, Miss Holmes. I can't order an official investigation into treason, not without more evidence that Shepard isn't human." He frowned. "I would do it right now just based on what you've told and shown me, but without further proof or even a window into what they want the Council won't order it. Especially not if some of it is the things a ghost says to you."

"Aiden's trust-worthy, sir," said Ashley.

"And would the Council believe that?" Anderson asked.

"I'd submit myself to a meld to prove it," Jodie repeated.

"True, but without any indication as to why they would threaten the Council..." Anderson sighed, pouring himself some more brandy. "The best I can do is help you from the sidelines. Provide intel, observations. But right now, there's not much else I can do."

Jodie nodded. "Even that can be helpful," she said. "I want to present a case to the Council at some point. Whatever is going on here, I don't think it bodes well for anyone in this galaxy." She paused, looking at Anderson. "And anyway, even if we don't have a case right now, I thought you deserved to know at least something."

Anderson nodded. "I guess I should thank you for that." He stood up, walking towards the balcony that was close by. "Still..." He looked away as Jodie and Ashley both stood up, following him outside. "To think that Commander Shepard might not be human..."

Jodie looked up, leaning on the balcony's railing. "It is kind of a disturbing thought, isn't it?" Jodie asked. "How all the achievements Humanity's made with the Council are invalid because they weren't done by a human."

"There's so much to think about," Anderson said, looking down. "Our first Spectre... The man who saved the Citadel... the man who gave us a Council seat... The Hero of Elysium..." Anderson shook his head, one of his fists clenching. "I don't want to think about the ramifications this could have on humanity."

"I don't think anyone does, sir," said Ashley. "Do you think you'll be kicked off of the Council?"

"I doubt that," said Anderson. "At least, I hope not. Shepard was under false pretenses with the Alliance as much as he was with the Council itself. In fact, I'd argue he was under deeper false pretenses with the Alliance. I'm sure the Council would understand." He shakes his head. "Still... How did we not discover any of this?"

"I don't know, but it doesn't matter now," said Jodie. "What matters is what we do about it."

Anderson nodded. "That's true," he conceded. "There isn't much we can do, though. Not unless he slips up at some point."

Jodie nodded. "There'll be something we can use," she said. "He's been keeping this ruse up since he first came to this galaxy. He can't keep it up forever. Nobody can, and he's extremely arrogant if he think he can."

"I know," said Anderson. He paused, glancing off to the side. "Though now that I think of it, we should have been tipped off from his arrival."

Jodie blinked, looking at Anderson in surprise. "You did?" he asked.

Anderson nodded, opening his omni-tool. "I'll give you Shepard's personal file to read on your own time," he said. "I can't promise there won't be redactions. You don't have the clearance I do to some information. But if you encounter any redaction..." Anderson then touched a few buttons on the omni-tool, and then Jodie's own omni-tool beeped.

Jodie opened the omni-tool, jumping a little upon seeing the name of the file. She opened the file, her eyes widening as she skimmed it. The file was intact, of course, but the contents of it...

"You're giving me his dossier?" she asked. She looked up at Anderson in confusion. "Won't you get in trouble for that?"

"It's not technically listed as classified," Anderson said. "It contains his full history, including that nobody knows where he was as a child."

Jodie nodded, looking at the file. "I'll look it over on my own time," she said. "Thank you."

"I'll do whatever else I can," said Anderson. "If you don't have anything else to talk to me about..."

"I don't," said Jodie. She looked back at Ashley. "We should get you back to the Normandy."

"Probably," said Ashley. She then stood at attention, saluting Anderson. "Sir."

"Dismissed, soldier," Anderson replied. "Keep making the Alliance proud."

* * *

"Well, that could've gone better," Ashley said as she settled into the seat on the Rapid Transit vehicle.

"It could've gone a lot worse," Jodie replied as she sat there, inputting their next destination in the cab's console. She shook her head. "I can't believe that of all people, it was Saren who had that kind of connection to Anderson."

Ashley frowned. "You can't control that?" Ashley asked.

"Not always," said Jodie. "The only thing I know going in is that there  _is_ someone in the Infraworld that they can talk to." She paused, looking at Ashley as the taxi doors closed. "Thankfully, I don't go in blind all that often. Usually when I've done that, it was from a recent enough loss that I had a very reasonable guess about who would show up."

"Like with Kaidan..." Ashley settled back in her seat. "I'm starting to see why you were so afraid of the Alliance brass finding out about Aiden."

"Yeah," said Jodie. She sighed. "Well, whatever the case, there's no turning back now. Anderson knows, and depending on what happens the top governments of the galaxy will find out. I only hope they don't use me for Aiden the way the CIA did." She shook her head, pulling her legs in close. "And now it's up to me to do what I have to do."

"Don't tell me you're actually thinking about following that dream," Ashley said.

"With no idea about where I'm supposed to go and how I'm even going to get in there?" Jodie asked.

Ashley nodded, crossing her arms. "That's true," she conceded. She sighed. "So we're waiting for him to slip up now."

"Yes," said Jodie. She looked at Ashley. "I need you on the Normandy. I need someone inside to watch his every move."

"I guess so," said Ashley. "I don't like it, but without Liara on the ship, I don't exactly have a choice in the matter, do I?"

Jodie nodded, her thoughts turning to Liara. "You haven't seen her since I talked with her on Kalo's ship, huh?" she asked.

"No," said Ashley. "She came back to the Normandy, but after a couple of days she just...  _vanished_." Ashley shook her head. "I suspect foul play."

"You think that message was responsible somehow?" Jodie asked.

"It could've been," Ashley replied. "But I don't know. I'm not about to make a judgment. If we can find out for sure, great. But until then, anything's possible." She sighed. "This is fucked up."

"Tell me about it," said Jodie. "This whole thing is like something out of one of those conspiracy theories that only idiots believe in. Even I have to pinch myself sometimes to remember that this is real."

"Well, I'm glad we're on the same page about that," Ashley replied. "Well... whatever the case, I guess I'll see you elsewhere on the Citadel?"

"Yeah," said Jodie. "I'll have to find a new spot to do guitar, though. With the Tayseri Ward mostly destroyed, that complicates things a bit."

"You'll figure something out," Ashley replied. "Besides, with the payday you got from helping us on the Normandy, you should be tided over for a while."

Jodie nodded. "Of course," she said.

She then shifted her position, looking outside. Aiden chirped a couple of times, Jodie settling into the seat as she heard the entity talk. Ashley remained silent the rest of the ride, and for once, Jodie was glad she had some space to clear her head.

* * *

Jodie tapped her foot against the hard metal floor, waiting for the ship's decontamination cycle to end. She never liked the decontamination cycle on the Kolwoon class: it always took just a little longer than she would have liked. She knew how important it was, but she could not help but wonder if there was any way they could have sped it up to the speed of the Normandy's decontamination cycle.

She rubbed her forehead.  _Damn, that ship spoiled me,_  she thought.  _Am I going to think that about every other ship I enter?_

As soon as this thought entered her head, however, the door into the ship opened. And standing there was Kalo'Veera nar Idenna: Jodie noticed that there was an oil stain on a part of his sash, but otherwise, the quarian looked rather similar.

"Jodie," said Kalo. "Welcome back."

Jodie smiled, Aiden clicking a few times as she stepped in. "Hey," said Jodie. She then nodded, looking at Kalo's oil stain. "Where did that come from?"

"I had to apply grease to a particularly old joint," said Kalo. He shrugged. "I would get a new one, but it would be prohibitively expensive, I fear."

Jodie nodded. "You do what you can," she said. She then walked in, Kalo following her. "I can't thank you enough for letting me stay here."

"Think nothing of it," said Kalo. "You are a friend." He then nodded. "How did your meeting with the Councillor go?"

"Okay, I guess," said Jodie as she stepped into the ship's newly-minted sleeping quarters. She sat on one of the cots right by the door, Kalo following her in and standing next to where she sat. "He didn't outright dismiss it, which is a good sign. He did say the Council might, though."

"Mm." Kalo sighed, before sitting next to Jodie on the cot. "I suppose it is not the Council's concern now."

"No," said Jodie. She then opened her omni-tool, opening the file with Shepard's dossier. "I got this, though." She gestured to the file.

Kalo leaned forward. "The Councillor gave you Shepard's dossier?" he asked.

"Better than nothing, right?" Jodie asked.

"I suppose so, but it is still useless information, no?" he asked.

Jodie shrugged. "If nothing else, it'll confirm a suspicion I've had for a while with him," she said.

Kalo's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well, when we dealt with Cerberus on the Normandy, he would get very, very angry," Jodie replied. "He... He actually punched a wall so hard he dented it the one time."

Kalo cringed. "Keelah," he thought. "You do not believe..."

"Cerberus may have done something in Shepard's past, certainly," she said. She then looked at the file. "Maybe something in here can at least confirm that."

"Confirmation is still useful," Kalo added. He patted his legs, looking at the ground. "But that cannot explain everything."

"No," said Jodie. She closed the omni-tool, leaning back against the wall. "It doesn't explain the secrecy, or why he would masquerade as a human for this long. We know he wants to destroy Cerberus, but what does he want with the Council?"

Kalo sighed. "And the rest of the galaxy as well," he said, looking at Jodie. "If he is practicing that kind of deception that landed him in the Spectres..."

"I don't know..." said Jodie.

Kalo paused, looking down at the floor. He then turned around, placing one leg on the bed. "If you ever need to go anywhere, you can rely on me," he said.

Jodie blinked, the confusion evident. "Kalo?" she asked.

The quarian bowed his head. "I feel you may need help," he said. "If you want my help, then I am here."

Jodie blinked, before scooting away a little. "Oh, no. No." She shook her head. "You're not involving yourself any more than you already have."

"And why not?" Kalo asked. "I trust you to do the right thing, Jodie."

"Yeah, but..." Jodie shook her head. "Kalo, you're already deep enough in this whole thing as it is. I can't drag you with me. You... There's a Fleet that needs you. You could go to them."

"I doubt that would matter considering that Shepard could be a threat to the Fleet as well," said Kalo. He then rubbed her shoulder. "If this galaxy is a threat, the Fleet can wait. And besides..." He shrugged. "It is the least I can do for you, for remaining a steadfast friend." He shrugged. "And besides, I am already deep in this thing. Did you not join Saren to see it to the end?"

Jodie looked at Kalo, before sighing. "I suppose I did," she said. She sighed. "I just... I'm worried that I'd get you hurt. I don't know if I could ever forgive myself if you got hurt because I dragged you into this."

"You will not have to worry about that," he said. "I cannot guarantee it will not happen, but I will not blame you for it."

Jodie pulled her legs up to her chest. "I only hope you don't get hurt," she said.

Kalo nodded. "We shall see," he said. "In the meantime, I suppose there is other work I should do."

Jodie smiled. "Do you need any help with that?"

The quarian stood up, offering his hand to Jodie. "I think I could use your help with something," he said. "How good are you at holding things in place?"

"Pretty decent," Jodie said. "But if I falter, Aiden can pick up the slack."

"Good," said Kalo. "Come."

And with this, Jodie took Kalo's hand, the quarian helping Jodie out of the bed. The two of htem then walked out of the room, heading towards the main chamber where the lab space was already beginning to take shape.

* * *

Jodie carried her guitar again, feeling the weight of the case as she moved along. It felt a little strange to get into this routine again, what with having been out of practice for several months. But it was a pretty easy thing to pick right back up, she knew: strumming chords was never very hard. Sure, she would like to build up the dexterity to do those guitar riffs she used to do as a teenager, but that kind of hard metal shredding was something she no longer felt was tasteful.

She thus stepped into the 800 blocks. That was where at least some of the people she was acquainted with on the Citadel had gone. The money was not as good according to some, but the patrons were not so stuffy. Jodie was a little confused by why people tagged that on, as Jodie never really felt any snobbishness from the Tayseri Ward patrons, but that was how it is.

Jodie sat down, looking around the ward. There were a few shops close to where she was, though one of them was still closed. Understandably so, of course: the large dent in the store's facade told her that it had sustained some fairly serious damage when Sovereign had blown up. There were still a good deal of people bustling about, though: it gave a rather busy feel to the whole place.

Jodie placed her guitar case down, opening it and pulling the guitar out. She strummed it, sighing in relief when she found it had not been detuned in any way. She sat up, quickly turning the guitar case around. Jodie already closed her eyes, thinking about what to play next.

Finally, she struck out an E Major chord. She strummed at the instrument for about a minute or so, hammering out what she could remember of the chord progression.

 _It's been so long since I've played this,_  she thought. She sat back, still strumming as she heard Aiden chirp overhead.

And then, she began to sing the lyrics of  _The Golden Age_ , closing her eyes as she sang. Her voice, admittedly, was not the most trained, but in what it had in shakiness it more than made up for in emotion in some sense. Jodie leaned forward, thankful that on the Citadel her fingers at least risked nothing in the way of freezing over. She simply kept strumming her guitar, singing along as she bobbed her head in time.

And every few seconds, she would hear Aiden chirp. This brought a soft smile to Jodie's face: she knew just as well as Aiden did that they could not hear him. The fact taht he did it at all, though, was nice. And so, Jodie kept playing, though her voice carried a little more in the din of the 800 blocks' work day.

As soon as the song ended, Jodie paused, opening her eyes as her fingers idly plucked at the guitar. She looked up, smiling up at Aiden while preparing her next song in her head.

"And here I thought I'd never see something like that on here."

Jodie jumped a little, glancing immediately to her left. She blinked in surprise, seeing a young-looking drell sitting next to her. Light teal scales adorned his face, interrupted by splotches of black here and there. Jodie found herself most unsettled at the all-black eyes: she could see the outline of what might have been his pupils, but these were barely registered under the blackness of Jodie's eyes.

Jodie exhaled, Aiden grumbling in distaste. "Jesus," said Jodie. "That came from out of nowhere."

The drell shrugged, turning away from Jodie. "My uncle tells me I'm good at just appearing in front of people," he said, his gravelly voice making him seem older than he really was. "Tells me I'm just like my father that way."

Jodie frowned. "Well, I was thinking more that you scared me half to death, but, uh... I guess that works too," she said. She looked over. "What are you doing here?"

"Is it so wrong to just sit next to a musician while they play on the street?" the drell replied.

"Usually, they don't just appear from thin air," Jodie replied. "I'm not going to say no, but at least announce your presence first!"

"I just did that," the drell replied, though his tone indicated he spat it more than he meant it.

"Um... not really," said Jodie.

"Whatever," the drell said, pulling his legs up to his chest. "Name's Kolyat."

"Jodie," Jodie replied. She then shrugged looking back at the guitar. "So what are you here for?"

"My aunt and uncle took me with them for a business trip," he said. "They'll be coming here every weekend for the next three months, and since there's no one at home that'll watch me..."

Jodie shrugged. "That's not so bad." She then strummed quickly for effect. "I mean, you get to see the galaxy, right?"

"That implies I  _want_ to see the galaxy," Kolyat fired back. "And that I want to see it so soon after a big geth attack."

"I wouldn't let that deter me," Jodie replied. "You only have one life, you know. Better to use it to make it as fulfilling as possible."

"Hmph," said Kolyat. "Maybe." He shook his head, looking back at Jodie. "So you like Beck, huh?"

"Yeah," said Jodie. "He just... speaks to me, you know?"

"I know the feeling," said Kolyat as he pulled his legs in. "I found him on an extranet search. He really speaks to me too."

Jodie nodded. "I guess he speaks to a lot of people, then," Jodie said. "And that's interesting, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Kolyat replied. He looked over. "Don't let me stop you. You've still got credits to earn, right?"

"Oh, sorry," said Jodie. She then strummed another chord under Kolyat's supervision, and then eventually she settled on a C Major chord.

She then launched into a rendition of  _Lost Cause_. This time, she began tapping her foot on the floor of the Citadel, keeping time in this way as she played on. For a second, she flashed back to that cold street that she played on the side, right down to Kolyat's stare. It was not scrutinizing for her, even if she had a feeling others would feel that way. Rather, it felt enriching, knowing that someone actually cared enough from outside of the ship to miss her when she had vanished.

It gave her vigor. And even though the tone of  _Lost Cause_ was depressing, she hammered at it a little more cheerfully.

When the song ended, Kolyat was still there. He was quiet, his expression difficult to read. Jodie, however, noticed that his posture had shifted into something more relaxed.

Kolyat nodded, patting his own knees. "Well, I have to go," he said. "My uncle's probably ready to call C-SEC in a hurry asking where I am. They're that paranoid. But if you're going to be here for a while..."

Jodie nodded. "I'll be here for some time," she said. "Maybe I'll see you around?"

"Maybe," said Kolyat. "I'm glad I finally have someone on this damn station I can talk to."

"I think you'll find that lots of people here can be talked to," Jodie replied. "You take care, Kolyat."

"I'll come see you when I'm ever on the station," said Kolyat.

He then pushed himself off the ground and began walking away. In short order, the drell disappeared into the crowd. Jodie sighed, plucking some of the strings of her guitar absently.

Aiden chirped above her, and Jodie leaned forward.

 _Oh?_  she asked.  _I see... Did he always look that sour to you?_

Aiden gurgled in response.

Jodie sat back. "Figures," she thought. "Probably like me when I was younger..."

She then shrugged, and strummed another chord.

"Well... maybe we'll see him again," she said.

And then, she strummed a definite D Major chord.

* * *

Several hours later, Jodie had packed up her guitar, and walked all the way through the Citadel to get back to Kalo's ship. The walk was a rather lengthy one, sure, but Jodie preferred to make that walk rather than take the rapid transit. There was something more calming about walking a rather lengthy distance on the way home. It was almost something therapeutic, really.

And as she walked on, she walked by a few familiar places. The med bay that Dr. Michel was located, the rapid transit station she'd used to go to the Tayseri Ward, a few other more noticeable locations...

...and then there was the one location she was always looking forward to seeing.

"Well, if it isn't the accidental racist once again."

Jodie sighed, looking over as she passed by Sura. The asari had just been walking out of office, now dressed in fatigues. "Are you ever going to stop calling me that?" Jodie asked.

"Well, that depends," said Sura. She then leaned against a wall as Jodie stopped in front of her. "How have you been?"

"I've been okay," said Jodie. "Still have a few things to worry about, but I'll get to worrying about that as I go on around here."

"Still, everything's been fine," she said. "And how's Kalo?"

"Kalo's been doing great," Jodie replied. "Before long, his ship will be ready to help the Fleet."

"That's good," said Sura. She smiled, the first really genuine smile Jodie had seen her give. "He's going to do great things for the Fleet."

"You seem to have taken to him," said Jodie.

Sura shrugged. "Well, that's what happens when you've got a quarian for a father."

Jodie blinked. "Wait, your father is a quarian?" she asked.

"Was," Sura corrected. She sighed. "Unlike a lot of people on the Citadel, I'm old enough to remember what a quarian's face looks like under that mask. Just old enough, too; it was weird becoming a maiden and then seeing quarians wearing those suits all around."

Jodie nodded. "I see..." she said. "So that's why you said  _Keelah se'lai_ when he got the ship, right?"

"Yep," said Sura as she crossed her arms. She looked up. "Father was a hardass. He didn't live long, unfortunately. A geth unit though he'd make a great wall decoration." Her eyes narrowed, glancing to the side with anger. "Died with a bunch of other people on Rannoch."

Jodie nodded, frowning. "I'm sorry for your loss," she replied.

"Hey, it was three hundred years ago," said Sura. "Heartless as it might seem, a girl can get over things over three hundred years." She sighed. "I still remember the way he'd look at me, though."

Jodie nodded. "He must've been a good father," she said.

"He always looked so happy," Sura said. "He was a marine, I remember that much. And a very sweet man..." Sura's usually sarcastic look had faded away, instead replaced by a far-off, nostalgic look. "I remember when he'd come home, he'd always play with me. He did nothing but stay at home with us whenever we came. And sometimes, he invited his friends..." She chuckled. "I remember I wanted to eat his pot roast he'd make for them so bad. But of course, there were the damn amino acids..."

"And now I'm almost jealous," Jodie replied.

"It was a good home life," said Sura. She frowned. "And it got taken away by the Goddess-damned Geth." She clenched her hand into a fist. "Mom was never the same after he died. We knew it would come eventually, but that soon..." Sura scowled. "I joined C-SEC to honor his memory. He was a good man. He didn't deserve to go out like that."

Jodie nodded, crossing her arms. "I see..." she said. She sighed. "I guess some day I'll find out what you did to get here?"

"Maybe," said Sura. She then pushed off. "I should get going for home. If you ever need anything, feel free to stop by."

"Sure thing," Jodie replied, smiling. "You take care of yourself, Sura."

"You too," said the asari. "Oh, and try not to call a turian spiky on your way home, eh?"

Jodie's eyes narrowed in displeasure. The asari simply chuckled, walking past Jodie and patting her on the back. "I kid, I kid," she replied. "I'll see you around."

And with this, the asari walked away. Jodie shook her head, turning away and resuming walking in the direction she was originally heading.

* * *

And once again, Jodie's life fell into a routine that she felt quite comfortable with. Wake up in Kalo's ship, get some credits by playing guitar, see Sura on the way back, look at information on Shepard on the downtime, rinse and repeat.

Kolyat would of course come around every so often, but this new addition to the schedule was nothing huge for Jodie. The young drell was rather abrasive, but Jodie eventually got used to his abrasive attitude as time went on. She figured pretty quickly that Kolyat had a rather interesting home life: she always thought of herself when she was a rebellious teenager when he was around.

 _He'll grow out of it,_  she said to herself.  _I know I did..._

Nevertheless, she adhered to her schedule. Every so often, she would see Xerxes, of course, and now she did not object to his tendency to shower expensive items on her as much as she did before. After all, knowing that she and Xerxes were more similar in some ways than anyone could have known, they had come to an understanding, and Jodie did not feel as guilty of sabotaging his bank account as she did before.

And then there was Ashley. Ashley had to leave with the Normandy after Shepard returned from wherever he had taken leave. They had taken to patrolling the Terminus systems for geth activity, which was a rather small job. This gave Jodie some time to regroup, but at the same time it gave Ash nothing in the way of discerning anything about Shepard's true nature. Thus, a month past with no true updates.

And for a while, Jodie was fine with this. The anxiety of not knowing anything more about Shepard began to subside. She had played the intelligence-gathering game with Ryan, after all: she knew that it could sometimes take a while to get anynew intel.

After a month, there was finally a break.

It was a break that would be delivered in the most unexpected way possible, however...

* * *

Jodie sat back, looking over her guitar. She strummed it lightly, looking up at the ceiling.

"So that is how it sounds live? Interesting..."

Kalo leaned forward, looking at Jodie with his head tilted in curiosity. They were alone on Kalo's ship, the two of them in a lull between installing terminals on one of the many berths meant for scientific discovery. It was a break both of them had welcomed: Kalo was getting exhausted after a long day, as was Jodie. Since Kalo had still not heard Jodie's playing, they had decided to give a sample.

Jodie simply smiled. "I'm glad you like it," she said.

"It is very different from a recording," Kalo replied. He then sat next to Jodie. "It sounds more... open. Free."

"Well, you know how it is," said Jodie as she chuckled nervously. She paused, looking down at her guitar. "I can't imagine you have anything on the Fleet..."

"If we do, I haven't seen it," Kalo admitted. He sighed. "It has to exist somewhere, but..."

"Maybe it does," said Jodie. She then looked at the guitar, sighing. "You just need to look."

"Perhaps," said Kalo. "Still... I wish some day I could touch a musical instrument. I heard all about them in the vids I watched growing up. I grew... intrigued. I always wondered what it would be like to play one.

Jodie nodded, glancing down at her own guitar. She then shrugged, looking over at the quarian. "You want to try?"

Kalo blinked in surprise, pointing at Jodie's guitar. "That?" he asked.

Jodie shrugged, smiling. "Don't see why not," she replied.

"But..." He then lifted his hands, showing the rubber pods underneath the fingers. "Would these not damage the strings?"

"They're metal," Jodie replied, lifting the guitar's neck. "I'm sure they can take it. And hey, there are always solutions..."

Kalo nodded, one of his hands grabbing the guitar. "Well, if you say so," he said.

They then slid the guitar into Kalo's lap, the quarian shifting his legs awkwardly as he settled the instrument into his lap. The quarian looked on, his left hand awkwardly holding the guitar's neck from above. He frowned, moving his hand, but never bringing it under the neck.

Jodie shook her head, smiling gently as she leaned over, taking a hold of Kalo's wrist. "No no, you put it  _under_  the neck," she said, gently guiding Kalo's hand to the proper position.

The quarian chuckled nervously. "Hm... It is more comfortable that way..." he said. "I pondered more what I would do with the lack of two fingers, though..." He then flexed his two fingers.

"There's probably something you can come up with," Jodie replied, watching as the quarian shifted his legs so the guitar would sit in his lap more comfortably. "I imagine there are more than a few people that come up with...  _creative_ solutions."

"Possibly," said Kalo. The quarian then strummed the guitar, all of the strings sounding vibrantly. He looked down, turning his head in confusion. He then looked to Jodie, Jodie seeing that his eye lights had formed into an embarrased expression. "Um... how do I get the other notes?"

Jodie chuckled. "You press those fingers down," she said.

Kalo then placed one of his fingers on one of the frets. "Like that?" he asked.

Jodie looked over, again moving Kalo's finger off the fret. "No no, in between those bumps," she said. "Like... that." She then nodded. "Now, pluck."

Kalo strummed again, a new chord sounding from the strings, perhaps flavored by the added dissonance from where Kalo's finger was placed. "Oh..." He looked down, his finger straightening. "And I can pluck one string only, right?"

"Yeah," said Jodie. "You can do that too."

The quarian proceeded to do just that. He then turned to Jodie, his eyes seeming to shine brighter than they usually did. He plucked again, moving his finger to another space between frets. He slid the finger to another fret, plucking the string. He then leaned over, plucking another string as he moved his finger into another space between frets.

"This..." Kalo's voice was hushed, almost in reverence. "I never thought I would be able to touch something like this... I would watch from afar, but..."

Jodie placed a hand on his shoulder. "We don't always," said Jodie. She then smiled, patting Kalo's shoulder. "I guess there's an upside to dreaming..."

"There is..." Kalo breathed out.

Jodie heard Kalo exhale, before he turned to look at her. Jodie simply smiled, looking at Kalo as his grip on the guitar's neck lightened. Jodie shifted her posture, sharing a silence with the quarian. As her heart began to beat a little faster, the guitar settled in Kalo's lap, and somehow Jodie could sense that Kalo was smiling underneath that mask he always wore.

And then, Jodie's omni-tool beeped loudly.

Aiden shrieked loudly, Jodie sighing as the moment was ruined. "Sorry," she said. "I must not have turned it on."

"It is fine," said Kalo, adjusting so that the guitar sat comfortably in his lap. "I wonder what it could be..."

Jodie then opened the omni-tool, seeing it was a call from...

"Ashley?" Jodie blinked. She then accepted the call, shifting her posture. "Ashley?"

" _Jodie!_ " said Ashley. In the background, Jodie could hear a lot of movement, a lot of hushed voices talking. " _Oh, thank God you're there! It's... It's a clusterfuck over here!"_

Jodie blinked. "Ashley?" she asked. "Is everything all right?"

" _Jodie..._ " Ashley replied. " _Jodie, don't tell me you haven't seen the news._ "

Jodie and Kalo both turned to each other. "The news?" Jodie asked as she turned her attention back to her omni-tool. "I... I haven't checked in all day. I was busy helping Kalo on the ship." She then leaned forward. "Why? What's going on?"

" _It's the Normandy..._ " Ashley replied. " _Jodie, she's been destroyed._ "

Jodie's muscles tensed, Aiden releasing a shrill cry. "The... what!?" Jodie asked as she stood up.

" _We were taken by surprise,_ " said Ashley. " _We're cruising around patrolling for geth, and then we're jumped on by a vessel. I have no idea what it was, but it was big, and it tore the ship in half!_ "

Jodie breathed in, her heart rate spiking for a second as she leaned forward. "Oh my God... Is everyone all right?" she asked. "Are  _you_ all right?"

" _Well, I'm fine, otherwise I wouldn't have been cleared to use the omnitool,_ " Ashley replied. " _But w_ _e have a few casualties._ _Tali and Garrus are both fine, and Joker's fine too. So's the doctor. But... But most of the crew didn't make it out alive._ "

Jodie paused. "You didn't mention Shepard," she said.

Ashley went quiet, the voices in the background seeming to come into prominence. Jodie felt her throat dry up, and she heard Kalo stand up behind her as Aiden began to gurgle lowly.

" _Jodie..._ " Ashley began. " _Joker wouldn't leave the ship at first. Shepard went to the cockpit to get him. Shepard..._ "

Ashley took a deep breath.

" _He wasn't in the escape pod with Joker. Joker says he saw Shepard get blasted out into space, saw his air supply get cut open._   _Shepard's_ _dead, Jodie. He's gone._ "


	2. Chapter 2

Jodie stepped out of the rapid transit station, being careful not to stumble out of the vehicle.

Of course, being part of the Normandy's crew had its perks, if one could call them that in such a situation: Jodie had received an invitation to Shepard's funeral in the Presidium. There was of course no body, but Jodie did not expect anyone to find anything considering that the body had likely burned up upon entry into Alchera's atmosphere. They still had to present something, though, and Jodie was not sure what to expect.

As soon as she stepped off, she looked down, brushing some lint from the black dress she wore. It was a rather odd ensemble for her to wear, but at the same time Jodie knew that it was time to dispense with her usual attire. It brought her up to date with the rest of the Citadel, too: Jodie had to admit, the fabric of the dress felt quite nice, and the long sleeves and the top did not feel constrictive the way she feared they would be. She only wished the dress did not cover her feet; she found herself lifting the front of the dress to avoid stepping on it.

Of course, she did not keep this up for long. Jodie looked up, seeing Ashley Williams standing there in her Alliance dress blues. Jodie approached quickly, Ashley giving Jodie a salute.

"Ashley," Jodie said.

Ashley said nothing, instead pulling Jodie into a hug as soon as she approached. Jodie held the hug, patting Ashley on the back. They held this for a couple of seconds, before Jodie pulled back, nodding.

"I hope you're okay," said Jodie.

"Physically, I'm fine," Ashley replied. "But it's not easy to see your ship get blown up..."

"I can't imagine it would be," Jodie replied. She nodded. "And now, Shepard's dead..."

"Yeah," said Ashley. "Who'd have thought Shepard would die like that?"

"Certainly not me," Jodie replied. "This is..."

"Yeah," said Ashley. She sighed, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. "Well, I guess we better get moving. We've got a lot to look at with Shepard's funeral."

Jodie nodded. "Lead the way," she said.

Ashley nodded. She then turned, walking towards the space the funeral would be held. Jodie followed, her head down as Aiden clicked somberly.

* * *

Jodie sat down in the front row. Those seats were reserved for the people who had served on the Normandy alongside Shepard, and Jodie found herself sitting right at the end of the row next to Ashley. She shifted uncomfortably, Aiden clicking to confirm that there was no body in the casket presented in front of them.

 _Just as I suspected_ , she thought. She shook her head, before looking down the row.

Tali sat right next to Ashley, her head bowed down as her hands were settled right in her lap. Garrus sat beside the quarian, a hand placed comfortingly over the quarian's shoulder. Tali leaned against the turian's chest gently, and from there Jodie could hear the muffled sounds of Tali's sobs. The sound gave Jodie reason to pause, and she glanced away, feeling a strange guilt she could not describe. She looked down, her hands clasped together.

She shook her head, before turning her attention to the rest of the row. Wrex, of course, was sitting right by Garrus, looking bored more than anything else. Jodie quickly moved on, seeing Dr. Chakwas sit by Joker.

And among everyone on the row, it was  _Joker_ that gave Jodie the most reason to pause. The pilot sat there, his eyes bloodshot as he simply stood by. The crutches rested against Chakwas' chair, giving Joker enough room to sit there. But he remained completely motionless, almost as if in shock.

Jodie looked away once more, unable to look at him for terribly long after that. She felt her eyes water somewhat, not at what had happened to Shepard but at just how hard everyone around her was taking it. She brought a hand up to her eyes, wiping a tear that threatened to spill out.

 _I thought I didn't have any tears for Shepard..._  she thought.  _So why...?_

She sighed, looking down at the ground as she placed her hands in her lap. She then turned to the row to her left, seeing a lot more people there. Many of the faces were faces she did not recognize: from what Ashley had told her, most of them were big-wigs from elsewhere in the Alliance and the Council. She recognized the Council, however: they were almost impossible to miss. They sat next to Anderson on that side, all of them looking rather somber. Even the turian Councillor looked up sometimes, and from the way Jodie saw his head lean back...

And lastly, among all else, she saw little drones flying around, and a few journalists that attended to them. Jodie was aware before she went that the event was to be broadcast live: after all, this was Shepard people were talking about.

She bowed her head as the din of the small talk before the funeral quieted down. Jodie kept this position, even as the reverend overseeing the funeral began to talk about Shepard. She tuned out of most of it, looking over at the casket. Her lips remained quietly pursed, and she let out a sigh.

And then, footsteps. She glanced to the side, catching sight of the asari Councillor as she went up to the podium right by the casket. Jodie looked up, seeing as the asari approached, looking out to everyone seated in the front row.

"Today, we gather here to honor a fallen hero," the asari Councillor began, looking out to the others. "It would be remiss of us to mention the great sacrifice Shepard made for us." She bowed her head, looking to everyone in front of her. "Shepard did a great thing for all of us in this galaxy, stopping Saren and the geth atop that tower. He saved the galaxy when he spoke of that." She then paused. "But we can speak all day of that which we know. I will not speak of those, for that would pull our concentration away from some very important facts."

Jodie blinked, looking up at the asari Councillor. "No, what everyone saw was not what defined Shepard as a hero," the asari continued. "As with all heroes, what defines them is not how they behave in the public eye, but how they behave when nobody is looking." The asari Councillor then nodded. "And it was in this that Shepard's true heroism unfolded."

Jodie then looked at the Council, seeing the turian Councillor's expression flare up in rage a little. Nevertheless, the turian kept it in check. "There were many things not known to the public," the asari Councillor continued. "Like how we ordered Shepard not to go after Saren. He disobeyed that order, of course." She then bowed her head. "So, too, did he refuse to stay still when we first held the inquiry into Saren's activities. We know this, but do not punish him for that: after all, without that, we would not be standing here."

Jodie looked up, her hands by her sides. "Many would believe that he who strictly abides by the Council would be the only one worthy of the title of "hero"," she continued. "But it is precisely because Shepard acted in the best interests of his people, nay, of the galaxy that it makes him truly special amongst others. He always thought of those who were not us; above all, he prioritized the people he was protecting. For that, he should be considered a hero by all." She nodded, bowing her head. "Let us always remember him as such."

The applause she received from others was rather quiet, but nevertheless it was respectful. Everyone around her acknowledged the asari Councillor's speech warmly, especially the reporters. And from close by, Tali sniffled, raising her head for the first time since the funeral began.

Jodie could not bring herself to share in the applause. Instead, her hand tightened into a fist, the fist hidden from even the most well-positioned of the cameras around. And for a second, she felt a rush of great anger.

 _This is the same guy who deceived all of them..._  she thought.  _Dammit... She's right, but... but there was Balak, and possibly Vigil, and... and..._

She squeezed her eyes shut, unclenching her fist as she heard the asari Councillor step down.  _Dammit, Aiden... Why did this whole thing have to be this damn complicated?_

The entity could only gurgle sympathetically as the applause died down all around Jodie. She took a deep breath in, opening her eyes as fresh tears gathered and threatened to spill. She then hugged herself.

 _I wish I were anywhere but here..._  she thought.  _Dammit..._

And before she knew it, she saw Dr. Chakwas stand up on the end of the crew's side. Jodie nodded her head, before watching the doctor as she walked to the podium, clearing her throat as she approached.

"To most, Shepard was a hero," said the older doctor. "But to us on the Normandy, he was much more..."

* * *

The funeral, thankfully, was only about an hour long. And afterwards was a more private wake for everyone. Jodie stayed behind, grateful that the journalists had seen it fit to pack up and go by then. It gave her time to talk to other people, which was the part she was thinking more about.

But the time to talk was not then. She had thoughts, doubts that assailed what she knew about Shepard.

And thus, Jodie approached the casket, looking down as she placed a hand on it. She tapped it, her head bowed. She remained silent, tapping the casket quietly.  _Why do you have to make this so hard?_  she thought.  _Why?_

She sighed, biting her lower lip.  _I know what you did,_  she continued. She then sighed.  _And that invalidates whatever good you did... right?_

She closed her eyes, before turning away from the casket.

Jodie jumped in surprise as she nearly bumped into Joker. The pilot still maintained his expression from earlier, as if he had barely noticed that Jodie had almost sent him crashing to the floor. Jodie stepped back quickly, looking at the pilot as he looked up at Jodie.

"Oh. Jodie." Joker's voice was harsh, gravelly; it was about as far from the Joker Jodie knew as he could get. "You're here. I didn't notice you were here."

Jodie nodded. "I was sitting at the other end of the row during all those speeches," she said. "You didn't notice me?"

Joker shook his head. "No," he said, his tone quiet enough that it gave Jodie the impression he didn't care either way. He then turned towards the casket. "That should've been me in there..."

Jodie leaned forward. "Jo...  _Jeff_ , don't say that," Jodie replied. "You know that's not true."

"Why not?" he asked, looking over at Jodie. "It's my fault we're here." He looked down at the ground. "If I had just got on the escape pod like everyone else..."

"You couldn't have known what would happen," Jodie offered supportively.

"Sure, and I can walk perfectly fine without these damn crutches," Joker relied, almost spitting the words out as his brows furrowed. He then sniffled, looking away. "Don't give me your fake sympathy. I don't deserve it."

Jodie felt a pang of guilt hit her. She glanced down, before gingerly coming around, gently placing a hand on Joker's shoulder. She closed her eyes, feeling the pilot lean close to her and sob quietly. When she opened her eyes, Jodie noticed that no tears came out.

 _Poor guy's already cried all the tears he can, probably..._  she thought. She then sighed, simply pulling Joker close as gently as she cared.

Joker choked up. "Fuck..." he whispered. "Why me, of all people? Why the idiot who wouldn't let go? He could've gone for anyone else on that ship, but... why me?"

Jodie paused, glancing down at the floor. Her brain wracked itself for possible responses to that question, trying to think past what Shepard did to Balak for a response to Joker. She sighed, rubbing the back of her head with her other hand.

She then looked back at Joker. "Who knows?" she asked. "But what matters is, he came for you."

"That's the whole problem," Joker replied, looking away. "He shouldn't have come."

Jodie shrugged. "But he did," said Jodie. She sighed. "Does it really matter why?"

Joker looked at Jodie. "Maybe," he said. "I just... I screwed up. I got him killed. You know that. You should hate me for that..." Joker then turned away, staring to walk off. "Everybody should."

Jodie extended a hand to Joker, but before she could say anything the pilot walked away. Jodie lowered her hand, glancing away from the retreating pilot. She shook her head, hugging her arms as she looked back at the casket.

Aiden gurgled comfortingly, but Jodie felt no comfort from even that. She sighed, turning away from the casket.

She had some people she needed to talk to, after all. And the first person she needed to talk to happened to be standing somewhat close by.

Garrus stood off to the side of the large room, watching Dr. Chakwas and Tali from a distance. From what Jodie could see as she approached, Tali's head was still hung. Dr. Chakwas had a hand placed on the quarian's shoulder, but Tali could only lean against the wall of the chamber. The quarian's hand was on her face mask, and Jodie imagined that if the face mask were not there Tali's hand would be covering her eyes wiping away the tears.

Jodie sighed, coming to stand next to Garrus. "She's taking this really hard," she observed.

"Yeah," said Garrus. He then turned to look at Jodie. "Not that you can blame her, though. She  _loved_ him."

"I know," said Jodie, her heart tightening a little. She sighed, looking up at Garrus. "I guess you were there to witness it?"

"Yeah," said Garrus.

"I thought you went back to C-Sec," Jodie replied. "I mean, you'd brought Saren in..."

"I didn't want to leave Shepard alone," Garrus replied. He then smirked, looking at Jodie. "Let's face it, he would've been less badass without a turian cop at his back."

Jodie shook her head. "I beg to differ," she replied. "C-Sec needs you here, don't they?"

"They do now," said Garrus. He then turned to Jodie. "I took leave to follow Shepard. But of course, it was just damn busy work." He growled. "I got away from C-Sec to  _avoid_ that. I'll bet you ten credits they'll just throw all the paperwork they wouldn't give me while I was away just to spite me." He shrugged. "After everything we did to save the galaxy, that's what they'll repay me with."

Jodie shrugged. "I've been through far worse," she observed, her voice betraying some small amount of bitterness. "Trust me, the stuff I've been through makes your experiences seem kind of... I don't know..." She shrugged. "Trivial?"

"Hm," Garrus replied. He then turned to Jodie. "So if they're that big, that of course leaves one big question. Why don't you ever talk about it?"

Jodie frowned, looking at Garrus. "I don't feel like talking about it?" she asked. "It's why you don't talk about Dr. Saleon as much these days."

"Well, we actually did something about that," Garrus replied curtly. "I don't think I need to talk about dead men as much anymore." He then turned. "But you... I've fought by your side for a long while, and I still don't know anything about where you came from, why you're fighting..." He then turned to Jodie. "You're basically invisible. And I don't like invisible people."

Jodie frowned, crossing her arms. "So?" she asked. "I helped you stop Saren, didn't I? And I didn't really get in the way of a whole lot."

"Maybe," said Garrus. "But I still don't like that you haven't told us."

Jodie shrugged. "Sorry," she said. "But... I figured you'd be the kind to act on actions alone."

"I am," Garrus said. "But you're... mysterious. Too mysterious for me."

"That's fair, I guess," said Jodie. "But still."

Garrus shrugged. "But still," he said. He then looked over to Tali. "I should make sure she's all right. She isn't, but... I figure she could use a friend."

Jodie nodded. "Go ahead," she said. "She needs it."

Garrus nodded, and then turned towards Tali. He then walked up next to the quarian, placing a hand on her shoulder supportingly. Tali looked up, before she leaned in close to Garrus, the turian pulling her into a hug. Dr. Chakwas stood by, watching as Tali's shoulders visibly heaved even from where Jodie stood. Garrus looked down at Tali, before leaning close and whispering a few things by Tali's head.

Jodie sighed, turning away. Aiden gurgled above her, and to this Jodie could only nod.

 _I know, Aiden,_  she thought.  _I know._

And with this, she kept walking on, her eyes scanning the funeral to see who else she could talk to.

That did not take long, though: off in the corner, she saw Wrex standing alone. His back was turned to everyone, but right as she turned Jodie swore she saw Wrex give everyone else at the funeral a reproachful glare. He seemed just as annoyed as he had been during all the speeches given in Shepard's honor, something emphasized by his distance away from everyone else.

Jodie approached Wrex with a bit of hesitation in her steps. She knew the krogan to be blunt, but for him to look  _bored_ at a funeral...\

 _What's on his mind?_  Jodie thought.

The krogan turned his head, scowling as he saw Jodie. "Let me guess," he said. "You're going to grill me about how I'm not crying."

Jodie blinked. "Um..." She glanced to the side. "You're not going to count asking questions about that as a thing... I hope..."

Wrex grumbled. "You and half the funeral kept pointing that out," he said. He waved his hands dismissively. "They've got no right to question. I'm not the one mourning him wrong."

Jodie blinked. "Mourn..." She then leaned forward. "So you don't process grief the same way."

"You're damn right we don't," Wrex replied, turning towards Jodie. He then pointed at the entire funeral. "Look at all these whelps. Sitting there, crying, giving all those stuffy speeches! On Tuchanka, we'd throw a damn party, get drunk,  _celebrate_ his damn life and what made him great." Wrex clenched his fist, Aiden chirping in alarm. "If you ask me, this whole thing is a sham. Too damn stuffy, and there are too many damn tears. Save the tears for the burial."

Jodie nodded. "Well... we don't think about the memory of a dead person the same way," Jodie replied. "We like to... remember them. Say a few words."

"That's what your toasts are for," Wrex replied roughly. He shook his head, turning away from Jodie. "I don't know how you can  _stand_ it."

Jodie nodded, stepping right next to the krogan. "Well... I guess we just don't see eye to eye on that," she replied. "I guess since we're never going to see that person again, we... well, it's an expression of grief, I suppose." She sighed. "And when people are in grief, they don't tend to think about celebrating. They just need space to let it all out." She shook her head. "We're not krogan like that. I guess... I guess traditionally, we see death as an end."

"Hmph," Wrex said. "I don't get other species."

"I guess that makes two of us," Jodie replied. She then sighed. "I see... Well, Wrex, you never were good at being anything but incredibly blunt."

"I guess not," said Wrex. He then looked at the turian Councillor across the room. He then smirked. "Did you see his face when that asari Councillor talked about Shepard disobeying their orders? That at least was amusing."

"Well, she did risk a lot to say that," Jodie added.

Wrex nodded. "At least she was respectful to Shepard," he said. "A warrior like that deserves no less."

Jodie nodded. "I guess so," she nodded.  _Even if he was a coward in some ways._

Wrex turned to look at Jodie. "So how are you adjusting to life outside the Normandy?"

Jodie shrugged. "I'm doing pretty all right, actually," she said. "I'm living on the Citadel now. I guess things are going well back on Tuchanka?"

"As well as they can, with those short-sighted fools there," Wrex replied. "Just got Clan Urdnot back in order."

Jodie nodded. "So you're planning on doing something for the krogan people, then," she said. She looked up at Wrex. "Good. Glad to hear it."

"It'll take a while," Wrex replied, crossing his arms. "But they'll get into it eventually. Even if I have to force their hand."

Jodie nodded, looking at Wrex. "I think you can handle it," she said. "If anyone can, I imagine it would be you."

Wrex chuckled. "Thanks for the vote of confidence," he said. He then looked at Wrex. "And how's your 'friend' doing?"

Jodie rose her eyebrows, before smiling and shrugging. "He's fine," she said. "He's been cooped up a bit lately, but for the moment he's behaving." She chuckled. "Actually, now that I think about it, he's been good this whole time."

"He gets used to things fast," said Wrex.

Jodie scoffed at that. "If only that were the case," she commented. Her smile dimmed, before she held her hand behind her back. "Man, it's so strange to feel happy at a funeral, but..."

"Well, you're not happy because he's dead," Wrex replied.

Jodie nodded, glancing to the side. "That's true," she said. "I guess there's that, if nothing else..." She paused, pursing her lips. "I guess... I've still got people to catch up with."

"Don't let me keep you," Wrex replied. "I've got my own things to take care of."

Jodie nodded. "All right," she said. "You take care of yourself, Wrex. Take care of Tuchanka."

"Will do," the krogan replied as he turned away.

And with this, Jodie took a couple of steps away, looking back at Wrex before she walked away.

As she did, she frowned, looking up.  _Say, Aiden... he didn't make any oblique references to Shepard that we would've caught on, did he?_

Aiden clicked several times. Jodie nodded.  _Yeah, maybe that's all it is,_  she said. She then turned back, looking at the krogan.  _Honestly, he isn't the kind to be a good liar. You sense that too, right?_

Aiden trilled his agreement.  _Okay, that's what I thought,_  she thought, a smile gracing her face before it vanished again.

She then walked forward, catching sight of Ashley on the far end where she was talking to Councillor Anderson. Ashley and Anderson seemed rather quiet, neither of them saying anything. Jodie frowned, walking over to where they stood. As she slowly approached, Anderson acknowledged her presence with a nod.

"And there she is," said Anderson softly. "Jodie herself."

Jodie nodded, looking at Anderson. "Is there something you needed?" she asked.

"Perhaps," said Anderson. "But this isn't the time or the place to talk about it."

Jodie frowned. "Did something happen?" she asked.

"Maybe," said Ashley. She crossed her arms. "But we'll talk about that outside." She then crossed her arms. "The usual place?"

Jodie nodded, figuring she meant Kalo's ship. "Yeah, I guess so," she said. She then looked at Anderson. "I hope it's nothing problematic."

"Not for you," Anderson replied. "But a few things have happened since we spoke."

"Okay," said Jodie. She then turned to Ashley. "If he needs to be there, you know where to direct him."

"Of course," said Ashley.

Jodie then nodded, before looking around. "Say, Liara isn't here," she said.

"So I'm not the only one who noticed," said Anderson.

"Yeah," said Ashley. "Why isn't she here?"

Jodie frowned, crossing her arms as she looked at Shepard's casket. "Hm..." Her frown deepened as she turned to Anderson and Ashley. "You know? I have the horrible feeling I know why she isn't here..."

"It's not good, is it?" Ashley asked.

"No," said Jodie. "I'll tell you more elsewhere. This isn't the place for it."

* * *

The wake ended with no incident. Jodie did not speak to anyone else at the wake, instead turning her head routinely before people started filing out. As soon as she saw this, Jodie left the wake, making a beeline for Kalo's ship. It had been a rather quick ride, of course, and as always Kalo's ship was dutifully perched at the docking bay.

And as she pulled her regular jacket on, she turned, looking over at the doorway. She sighed, walking over to the door and hitting the door control. As soon as the door was open, Jodie stepped out of the room, smiling as soon as she saw Kalo there, finishing up the set-up of the terminal he had been working on while Jodie had gone to Shepard's funeral.

The quarian looked up, his eyes brightening as he continued the set-up. Jodie smiled in turn, walking over to him. "Is set-up finally finished?"

"Just about," said Kalo. "Of course, there will need to be programs installed, but I will leave that to the Fleet. Everything else should be ready." He then looked across the room. "That is... one out of several."

Jodie nodded. "I see," she said, seeing the terminals had already been set up in the physical space. She then turned to Kalo. "Oh, Kalo, one thing."

"What is it?" asked the quarian.

"Ashley might be stopping by with some company in the next few days," she said.

"Some company?" Kalo asked.

Jodie bit her lower lip. "The human Councillor, specifically," she replied.

"Oh." Kalo reared back. "Are you sure it's safe?"

"I think it's about Shepard," Jodie replied. "Since this ship is a safe zone for us all..."

Kalo nodded. "I suppose that is fair," he said. He then looks up. "I just hope he does not mind a quarian listening in on his conversation."

"He didn't mind a quarian handing evidence about Saren's activities to the Council," Jodie replied. "I don't think he'll mind you, just so long as he knows you're in on it. And since Ashley talked to him about it, I think he knows."

"Then that is fair indeed," said Kalo. He then shrugged. "In the meantime, there is work to do." He then turned to the nearest terminal. "Can you help me start up one of the other terminals and help me set it up? If you need help, I can come to you."

Jodie nodded. "Sure," she said as she walked to another terminal. "I might ask for help a lot, though."

"I will not be annoyed," Kalo replied.

Jodie smiled, her gaze turning towards him as she approached the terminal. "Whatever you say," she replied.

She then turned, booting up the terminal. Aiden chirped in merriment, before Jodie rolled up her sleeves as the holographic keyboard powered on.

* * *

Jodie decided to remain inside the next day. The funeral had drained her will to play out in the streets of the Citadel, and besides, Kalo needed a little help fitting out the living quarters with objects. Aiden was, of course, an immense help on this front, and it was what she thought of as she stepped back and wiped some sweat from her forehead. She smiled, looking at the mattress that was newly-placed on the top bunk.

"I guess we've really got this, huh, Aiden?" she asked out loud.

The entity clicked happily. Jodie turned to the door, holding her hands behind her back. "Yeah," she said. "Yeah, I'd say we have it, too." She paused. "You think this is going to be major, Aiden?"

Aiden clicked in uncertainty, before gurgling at length. Jodie could only shrug in reply. "I guess that's true," she replied. "Well, we'll see..." she said. She then turned to another mattress, looking at it as she walked to one end of it. "Help me with this, will you?"

The entity chirped, the other end of the mattress lifting up as Jodie grabbed it. She smiled, walking over to the ladder on one of the other bunk beds. "Now if only he had been able to afford actual sleeping pods..."

She shrugged. "Ah, well, bunk beds always had a charm," she commented. She then began to ascend the ladder.

It was as she ascended that she heard the door open. Jodie paused, looking on to see a couple of people enter. Kalo entered first, followed by Ashley. She recognized Anderson as he walked in behind Ashley, but then a fourth person entered the room. Tall with a graying goatee, Jodie did not recognize the man in Alliance dress blues that stepped in.

She gulped as soon as she saw the fourth person. "Kalo, you couldn't have knocked?" she asked.

"I..."

"Ah..." the goatee'd man said as he stepped forward. "I will assume this is the work of that 'Aiden' you mentioned, Councillor?"

"In action at the very moment, sir," Anderson replied.

"Skip the formalities, David," said the goatee'd man. "You're a Councillor now."

"That may be, but I'll always be Alliance through and through," said Anderson. "I'm only on the Council to serve."

"You're serving the species, not just the Alliance," said the goatee'd man. "Frankly, I'm not going to give a damn if you miss a few sirs here and there."

Jodie shook her head, looking to the other end of the matress. She then flipped the mattress onto the bed with Aiden's help, chuckling as she rubbed her hands. "So I take it you told him about Aiden?"

"I did," said Anderson. "I told him what you told me about Shepard."

"It's very...  _troubling_ ," the goatee'd man admitted. "I'm reluctant to take it on word of mouth."

Jodie shrugged, stepping down the ladder quickly. "Well, I don't blame you for the skepticism, I guess," Jodie replied. "I imagine it's a lot to swallow in this day and age, mister...?"

"Hackett," he replied, extending a hand to Jodie. "Admiral Steven Hackett."

Jodie's blood froze as soon as she took the goatee'd man's hand. "Of the fifth fleet!" she whispered in shock.

"I had to tell the top of the Alliance food chain," said Anderson.

Jodie nearly let go of Hackett's hand, but the admiral's grip proved too firm. He shook Jodie's hand once, Jodie stepping back as soon as he let go. "He talked to me about it after Shepard's funeral," said the admiral. "It's a difficult story to believe."

"I..." Jodie glanced at Anderson, before turning her attention back to Admiral Hackett. "A lot of things about me are difficult to believe," Jodie replied. "Why did you care about Aiden?"

"David mentioned his conversation with Saren that he had through you," Hackett replied. "If Aiden is a hoax, it is a very elaborate one, one perhaps too elaborate to pull off."

"I can assure you that Aiden is real," Jodie replied. She then looked to Ashley. "I guess you talked to her too, huh?"

"Gunnery Chief Williams was also helpful," said Hackett. "She filled in information Anderson could not about Aiden. You don't need to convince me of Aiden's existence, even if the rest of the Alliance might think differently if they should ever find out." He then looked down. "No, I find it difficult to believe that Shepard is... everything you say."

"It's... It's still tough to believe," Jodie said. "And I was the one who found the information."

"Perhaps," said Admiral Hackett as he crossed his arms in front of him. "I do not believe this about Shepard."

"I figured someone might," said Jodie. "Look, just give me an opportunity to find some evidence."

At this, Hackett only shrugged. "That's why I'm here," he replied. "Just because I don't believe it doesn't mean I will dismiss it outright. You mentioned to Anderson that you wanted to present a case to the Council."

"That's right," said Jodie. "What about that?"

"Anderson mentioned he believes what you say on this," said Hackett. "If I know David, he would not push me to do something if he did not believe it was the right thing to do."

"With the exception of blowing up that refinery?" Anderson joked.

"We both know Saren framed you for that," Hackett replied. "I don't hold you responsible for that, and anyone who does is a fool." He then turned back to Jodie while uncrossing his arms. "I've spoken with Anderson further about this subject. After that discussion, we have put together a mission you might find interesting."

Kalo and Jodie looked at each other. "A mission?" Jodie asked as she turned back to Hackett.

"One given to strictly non-Alliance personnel," Hackett replied. "You'll be going off the grid into the Terminus systems."

Jodie frowned, looking at Admiral Hackett. "The Terminus systems?" she asked. "Why there?"

"We were shot down over Alchera," Ashley replied. "In the Amada system in the Omega Nebula." She paused, looking to the side. "We had received distress signals that there were ships going missing. Alliance ships."

"The Normandy," Jodie said. She then turned right to Hackett. "Then that means...!"

Hackett nodded. "Officially, the mission is listed for Chief Williams to retrieve the dog tags of those who perished in the attack," he replied. "However, we're adding an objective away from the official records: to search the area and look for anything that might prove your hunch about Shepard."

Jodie breathed in. "So you're taking a chance," she said.

"Only because you helped take down Saren when you did not need to," Hackett replied.

Jodie breathed in, pacing towards the other end of the room. "This... this is a big risk you're taking," she acknowledged.

"We're well aware of that, Jodie," Hackett replied. "Particularly if some of the information you have is correct." He paused, before looking back at Ashley. "Chief Williams told me Shepard might have an information network."

"Yeah..." said Jodie as she turned to Ashley. "That was mostly her finding, though."

"It was, sir," said Ashley. "Jodie just helped me put the pieces together."

"That may be the case, but if that's true that makes our lives more complicated," said Hackett. "Because of this, this mission is off the records. If the Shadow Broker can find out the Alliance is involved, it's likely that this information network could find it."

"And that's to say nothing of what would happen if word got out to the Council," said Anderson. "This must be kept quiet."

"So I can't say anything to anyone outside the mission until I've returned with proof," said Jodie.

"Yes," said Hackett. "If your theory is right, we will expect something to show for it. And if it's substantive enough, we'll present it to the Council. But until then, there must be as few people that know as possible."

Jodie nodded. "I understand," she replied. "I'll gather my team as quietly as I can." She then chuckled. "And I guess that means I accept the mission, huh?"

"I figured you were going to accept the mission anyway," Anderson replied.

"True," Jodie replied with a chuckle. "Well... I'll accept it."

"I was hoping you would say that," Hackett said. He then turned to Ashley. "As I mentioned before, Chief Williams is the official executor of the mission, so she will be going with you."

"Of course," said Jodie. "And anyone else...?"

"Is left to your discretion," Hackett replied.

"We assume that you must have a few people you've talked to about this," said Anderson.

"One of them would be I, sir," said Kalo as he bowed his head. "I would be more than willing to accompany Jodie in this venture."

Admiral Hackett frowned, stepping towards the quarian. "Much as I appreciate your enthusiasm, your ship might be put at risk," Hackett replied. "We'll be sending you in on a craft we've provided for Chief Williams, nobody will be left to watch this ship."

"Jodie has a few friends who may be able to watch the ship, sir," Kalo replied. "She is my friend. She has helped me through a lot of things, and I would be a rather terrible friend if I did not help her in this venture."

"A quarian has been a valuable asset in the past," Anderson pointed out. "Look at Tali'Zorah's contribution to stripping Saren of his Spectre status." He then paused. "And if nobody else can look after this ship, I can look after it myself. But a quarian ally could be useful."

"They are a very resourceful bunch," Hackett replied, before turning to Kalo. "Very well then... Kalo, was it?"

"Yes, sir," said Kalo, saluting the admiral.

Hackett chuckled. "Such respect for someone not from the Fleet," he replied.

"You are the admiral of a fleet, are you not?" Kalo asked. "I should think that is worthy of respect, quarian or not."

"I suppose that is true," said Hackett. "You may help Jodie as well."

"I will aid her to the best of my ability, sir," Kalo replied, bowing his head in front of the admiral.

Ashley chuckled. "This little party is starting to take form," she mentioned. "I'm kind of looking forward to this mission."

"Indeed," said Anderson. He then turned to Jodie. "But to keep this as off the grid as possible, we're leaving the rest to you."

Jodie blinked. "So I have to choose my own crew?" she asked.

"Yes," said Anderson. "Choose as many people that are not affiliated with the Alliance as you can."

"Deployment is in one week," Hackett said. "I will give Chief Williams the deployment time and location the day of. I will expect that you have gathered a team by then of people who will be able to gather information. You are to report in when you have sufficient information to bring to the Council."

Jodie nodded. "If you don't mind my saying, those are some unusually broad mission parameters," Jodie replied.

"Broad mission parameters for a broad goal," said Hackett. "You have a start. The Normandy. I suppose you'll find out soon enough where it goes from there."

"I guess we will," said Jodie. She then nodded. "I'll gather the team. I think I have a couple of starting points, at least."

"Good," said Anderson. He then held his hands behind his back. "We're taking a big risk on this, Jodie Holmes."

"I'm aware of that," said Jodie. "Honestly, I'm..." She then turned to Hackett. "I'm surprised he's in on this."

"It was Anderson's idea," Hackett replied. "If it had been suggested by anyone else, we would not be standing here now."

"That's a lot of responsibility you're placing on someone with no defined origins," Jodie said.

"It is all we can do," Hackett replied. "I'm still highly skeptical, but Anderson hopes you can prove me wrong. Don't disappoint me."

Jodie's expression set, and she gave a slow tilt of her head. "I don't plan to," she said. "I'll do whatever I can to get to the bottom of this."

"Good," said Anderson. "I'll leave the rest to you."

* * *

"So I definitely think Sura should be part of it. Maybe Xerxes might know something that can help..."

Jodie sat at one of the tables, Ashley and Kalo gathered around it.

"And they are...?" Ashley asked.

"One of them is a C-SEC cop," said Kalo. "The other is an information broker who works on the Citadel."

Ashley frowned. "And now you're bringing a C-SEC cop into this?" she asked.

"It would probably be worth it," said Jodie. "She's motivated, she does investigation, she probably has experience considering that she's at least three hundred years old..." Jodie shrugged. "And besides, I trust her."

"But she does not know about Aiden," said Kalo.

"No, but she's an asari," Jodie replied. "She can meld with me, find the truth."

"But would she trust you after that?" Ashley asked. "And even if we passed that hurdle, C-SEC won't let her go, not unless Anderson pulls an ungodly amount of strings to make it happen."

"We'll have to come up with something," said Jodie. "We can probably do without her, but I want someone I know I can trust." She then sighed. "Though, I'm  _not_ looking forward to when she calls me the 'accidental racist' on repeat."

Ashley frowned. "Accidental racist?" she asked. "I'm not sure that's even a thing."

"It's an inside joke," Jodie replied, crossing her arms. "I didn't even know what a turian was when I first came here, so..."

"Oh." Kalo tapped his hands against the table. "I suppose that is..." Kalo then turned to Ashley. "You know about the-"

"CIA?" asked Ashley. "Yeah, I know about it."

Kalo nodded. "Good, saves me some explanation, then," he said. He looked over at Jodie. "But we are still asking, no?"

"I guess I can ask Anderson to pull those strings," Ashley replied. "But I doubt it'll work out."

"We'll have to see," Jodie replied. "And then there's Xerxes."

"He's not going to come with us," said Ashley.

"No, but he might have useful information," Jodie replied. "Or maybe he knows someone who can. I trust his judgment on that." She sighed. "I just hope I can convince him that Aiden's real."

"He trusts you enough," Kalo said. "I am sure of it."

Jodie nodded. "We should get on that as soon as possible, then," she said. "We deploy in a week, so we've got to get started on talking to these people."

"I guess you need to be there for both of these conversations," said Ashley.

"And we need to watch our backs," said Jodie. "Aiden is good for that, though. If he notices anything, he can just point it out."

"He's quite good at that," said Ashley. She then sighed, looking at everyone else. "Well, if nobody else has anything to add, we should get going on that. Right now."

"Yeah," said Jodie. She pushed off the table, walking over to the ship's airlock. "Come on. We're starting with Xerxes. He should be in his office right now, I'm not going to waste any time."

"You have never been to his office, though," Kalo pointed out.

Jodie smiled as Ashley and Kalo followed her to the airlock. "There's a first time for everything," Jodie replied.

* * *

"And... that's everything?"

"I'm afraid it is. I know it's a lot to dump on you, but-"

"A lot is an understatement. Holy shit..."

Xerxes sat back in his chair, palming his face in his hands. Xerxes' office was actually rather simple, and Jodie glanced out at the view of the Presidium from his office. She turned her attention back to the turian from where he sat behind his desk, the holographic display still presenting several miles of information. Jodie sighed, looking at Kalo and Ashley where they sat in the office's other chairs, before she sat and held her hands together in her lap.

"I'm sorry," Jodie said. "I shouldn't have dumped that much on you."

"You don't say," Xerxes replied bitterly, leaning back forward as he glared hard at Jodie. "I trusted you, and  _that_ is the story you give me."

"I know it is difficult to believe," Kalo replied. "But you must believe-"

"Frankly, I can believe whatever I damn well want," Xerxes replied, glaring at Kalo. "And after what I just got dropped, I need to figure out what the hell I have to believe here." He then turned to Jodie, shifting in his seat. "Is that Aiden thing even real?"

"He is," Jodie said. "I wouldn't make a story like that up. You know me."

"There's also the fact that you tried to deny my kindness..." Xerxes sighed, sitting back again. "You've put me in a weird position, Jodie. That's...  _Spirits,_ Jodie!" He rubbed his head. "This... When you said you had secrets, I didn't think it would be...  _this_..."

"I know it's tough to believe, but we have other things to take care of," said Ashley. "And time isn't on our side right now."

Xerxes sighed. "And you're asking me to join up?" he asked. "No. That's going too far, Jodie. I go to great distances for my friends, but  _that_ , and after that bombshell you dropped? Absolutely not." Xerxes waved his hand. "You could've said this to me in any other context but this, Jodie, and I would've thought of it. But-"

"I understand that," said Jodie. She shook her head. "But no, I know you've got things here. And honestly, you'd probably be better off here where no one can get you."

Xerxes blinked. "So then what  _do_ you want?" asked the turian.

"We need information," said Jodie. "Anything you can find would help us. And if you know someone who can help, I'll take that too."

Xerxes glared at Kalo and Ashley, before shaking his head and standing up. "Jodie, all the people I know that would be able to help would take me back to that place in my past," he said as he paced around the office. "I worked very, very hard to get out of there, and I'm not going back." He shook his head, looking out to the Presidium. "I can't go back. Not after everything that happened."

Jodie sighed, standing up. "Please," said Jodie. "I'm asking you this as a friend. You've been kind to me, Xerxes, and I know this is a lot to accept, but... I'm trying to help protect this galaxy here from something that could be a big threat. I don't know how big a threat it is, but..." She crossed her arms. "If there's anything you could do..."

"And you're asking for that after what you just dropped on me," said Xerxes, turning to Jodie.

"I trust your information," said Jodie. "And I trust you as a person, Xerxes. I'm sorry I had to drop this secret like this..."

Xerxes let out a sigh, rubbing his face plates as he walked back to his desk. "I don't think I can," he replied. "This is... this is too much to bear..." He sighed. "I'm sorry, Jodie. I can't. My help would require dipping my feet back in there. And once I've dipped my feet back in, I'll get pulled back in. And after how you dropped it."

Jodie sighed. "I see," she said. She then tapped her fingers on her knees. "Well... If you change your mind, you know how to get in touch with me."

"That's what they all say," said Xerxes. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a lot to do. And a lot to think about, now."

Jodie nodded, standing up. "I understand," she said. She sighed, looking at Kalo and Ashley. "Come on. Let's go."

Ashley and Kalo both stood up after Jodie, the two of them exiting the room. Jodie cast a glance back at Xerxes, seeing the turian put his elbows on his desk as he rubbed his face with his hands. She then sighed, before walking away after Ashley and Kalo.

"Well, that could've gone better," Jodie said.

"You're saying that could've gone worse?" Ashley replied.

"It could've," said Jodie. "Usually if it turns out like that, it could've gone worse."

"We cannot think on that right now," said Kalo. "If he does not wish to help, it is not our problem."

"I suppose that's true..." Jodie sighed, grabbing her elbow. "But I just..." She then chuckled bitterly. "God, I don't know. I'm not so used to people having that kind of reaction."

"Others accepted Aiden easily, no?" Kalo asked.

"Yeah," said Jodie. "Even here..." She then sighed, turning to Ashley. "He was my first friend when I came here. And now that I've said that, and now that he's said that..." She sighed, before shrugging. "I guess I should've expected I'd lose a few friends."

"He did not outright throw you out," Kalo replied. He placed a hand on Jodie's shoulder. "Do not lose hope, Jodie. I think he may still be your friend."

"I doubt that," said Jodie as she sighed. "I really doubt that..." She turned to the others, sighing. "Well, I suppose we should find Sura."

"Maybe," said Ashley. "Gotta move forward, you know?"

"Guess that's true," said Jodie as they walked out of the office. "Come on. Let's go find Sura."

* * *

Jodie blinked as soon as the meld ended. She sat back, Ashley and Kalo looking at Sura across the table from them. Sura's coffee stood undisturbed at the table, Jodie glancing around the little room they were in to make sure nobody was eavesdropping on them.

The asari blinked for a few seconds, before shrugging and leaning forward. "Hm." She then smirked. "I always wondered what kind of rock you had to come from to not know what a turian was." She then scratched at her temple. "Though, I almost wished you'd actually made something up."

Jodie frowned. "What would that do for anyone?" she asked.

"It would've made things more fun that way," Sura replied, sitting back. Her smirk evolved into a genuine smile. "Not that I'm complaining. What I just saw in there..." She chuckled, leaning forward. "It's a good thing the meld always picks up memories, right? I'm not sure I would've believed you on  _any_ of that otherwise."

"That's what Liara told me," said Jodie.

"Oh, so this isn't the first time you've melded to talk about yourself like that?" asked Sura. "And here I thought I was special."

"Sorry," said Jodie as she looked at the ground.

"It's no big," said Sura. She then crossed her arms. "So let me guess. You want me to help you out."

"He told us to find people we could trust," said Kalo. "And I do not know about the Gunnery Chief, but Jodie and I trust you."

"Hm," said Sura. "Are you trying to flatter me?"

"Uh... no..." Kalo replied, turning away. "It is just that we believe we can trust you."

"I mean, you did help us out a bit," said Jodie. "And you did it even though I hadn't really given you a reason to."

Sura nodded. "There was a quarian involved, of course you gave me a reason," she replied. "And there's still a quarian involved, and frankly, you've become  _very_ interesting." Sura crossed her arms, frowning. "Only problem is, I have my superiors to deal with. I'm going to be a dear and assume this mission is going to take a while."

"Yes," said Ashley. "They're not going to make it easy to find answers."

"I thought as much," said Sura. She then leaned forward. "I have things to deal with here, and I'm pretty sure C-SEC doesn't take it lightly when random officers of theirs go AWOL. Much as I like C-SEC's role around here, I'm not terribly fond of the idea of a court martial from Pallin."

"But you would come if that weren't an issue, right?" Jodie asked.

"Hey,  _someone_ has to keep him out of trouble," she said, indicating the quarian. "But aside from that... I think someone could keep  _you_ out of trouble, too. And hey, I'm flattered you asked  _me_ of all people. Me, just a C-SEC cop come along to save the galaxy?"

"Technically, Garrus did that too," Ashley pointed out.

"Ah, Officer Vakarian," said Sura. She shook her head. "I've avoided the coffee table lately because of him. Kind of makes it hard to enjoy your coffee when that turian won't shut up about his... Messiah, right?"

Jodie snorted. "You...  _could_ say that," she admitted.

"Yeah," Sura replied. She sighed. "I do want to help. But at the moment, I'm afraid I won't be able to. Not with my duties here at C-SEC."

"The one who gave us our mission is the human Councillor," said Kalo.

Sura jolted, looking over at Jodie. "You've got the human Councillor on your side?"

"He was the first official we went to about this," Jodie replied. "He may not have as much influence as he would like, but if he was able to pull some strings..."

"...It might convince Pallin to let me go," Sura shrugged. "If I know Pallin, it'll be like pulling the head crest off a krogan. But just like you can wedge a knife on one particular part of that crest and pull it off, there's a way to convince him to make this happen." She leaned forward. "You should probably get him to talk to Pallin. Pallin is all about the proper order of things. If he gets an order from a Councillor, that could do it."

Ashley nodded. "I'll talk to Anderson about this," she said.

"Good," said Sura. She then shrugged. "Oh, and one other thing. Just remember, I wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for you, Jodie."

Jodie frowned. "Why's that?" she asked.

"Because I can take you seriously," she replied, sitting back. "Anyone who helps a quarian out when they need help is good in my book. I can believe you want to help." She then leaned forward. "Just don't do anything fishy against the Council."

Jodie nodded, her frown easing. "I can assure you, you won't have to worry about that," she said. "I'll do whatever I can."

"Good," said Sura. She then turned to Kalo and Ashley. "And these two are also taking part in that mission?"

"Yes," said Ashley. "It'll be good to have you on board, Officer T'Lenya."

"Likewise," said Sura. "Just hope you're ready to have a former Commando on your team."

Jodie, Kalo, and Ashley all jumped back upon hearing this.

"You were a commando once?" asked Kalo.

"You better believe it," Sura replied. "You asked just the right asari for the job." She then stood up, walking over there. "I'd love to chat some more, but unfortunately, that paperwork can get a bit pesky. I'll be waiting for you to talk to the human Councillor about me. Follow me, please."

And with this, the asari stepped out of the room they were in. Jodie, Ashley, and Kalo all followed the asari out, and in short order they were ushered outof Sura's C-SEC office.

As they exited, Kalo stepped forward. "Well, that went reasonably well," he said.

"Yeah," said Ashley. She then shrugged. "Well, people can be full of surprises."

"That they can," Jodie said. She sighed. "Come on, let's get back to the ship. We need to come up with a game plan on how we're going to move."

* * *

"So we know where the Normandy's crash site is," Jodie said.

"We do," said Ashley. "The Normandy's beacon went off some time after the funeral. If we remember Alchera's coordinates, we should be able to get there just fine."

Jodie, Kalo, and Ashley all sat around a holographic projection of Alchera. It hovered in front of the three of them, one area of it being highlighted.

"Hm..." Kalo looked over at Jodie. "You will need environmental protection, no?"

"I'm sure the Alliance will handle that," said Jodie. She then sighed. "I'm more worried about what we'll find once we touch down. It's probably too much to hope there's intact data down there..."

"Maybe," said Ashley. "But you know we have to look anyway."

"Yeah, we do," said Jodie. She then crossed her arms. "So suppose we figure out a clue that can point us at what's going on. What do we do then?"

"I suppose we improvise," Kalo suggested. "After all, we will not know the nature of whatever information we can find until much later, no?"

"That's true," said Jodie. "But we'll need to find somewhere to look at it, and I doubt we'll find a place close by. I also imagine we'll need to watch fuel."

"We could always stop by Omega," said Kalo.

Ashley scoffed. "Sure, if we want someone to steal everything we got," she replied sardonically. "You know just how shitty that hellhole is, right?"

"Where else are we going to go without going through a mass relay?" Jodie asked. She shrugged. "Besides, we don't have to leave the ship, do we?"

"No, but something will probably force us off first," said Ashley. She then leaned forward, zooming out of Alchera and moving to another planet. "If I remember my star maps right, there should be a habitable planet..." She then zoomed in. "Ah. Lorek. There it is." She shook her head. "It's probably not much better. The intel the Alliance has on it suggests that Eclipse mercs have set up shop there. But at least there we can find an uninhabited part of the planet, set down while we try to figure out what our data means."

"And then we go from there?" Jodie asked.

"And then we go from there," Ashley confirmed. "It's a hell of a lot better than stopping on Omega."

"I guess I'll have to take your word for it," Jodie replied. She sighed, rubbing the back of her head. "And then we improvise."

"Yes," said Ashley. "Who knows? Maybe we'll find the keys to Shepard's...  _kingdom_..."

Jodie groaned. "That was terrible," she said, Aiden gurgling his agreement.

"It was not so bad," said Kalo. "It made sense, at least."

"That doesn't make it any better," Jodie replied, shaking her head as she stood up. She sighed. "Anyway... I guess that was simple to put together." She then shook her head. "It's silly we had to sit and figure that out."

"No plan survives first contact with implementation, you know," Ashley replied. "And with this, we're only going in with half of a plan."

"I'm well aware of that..." She sighed. "I just feel there's more preparation we could've had."

"I doubt that," Kalo replied. "It will be... interesting, I suppose."

"Maybe," Jodie said. She then rubbed the back of her head, taking in a deep breath. "Well, we have a week. I guess we go about our business until then, right?"

"Yeah," said Ashley. "I'll check in as we go with updates on everything."

Jodie nodded, rubbing her hands together. "All right," she said. "We'll wait until then. If anything happens, let us know."

"You got it," said Ashley as she stood up. "I'll keep in contact."

And with this, Ashley walked over to the airlock. Kalo followed her out, Jodie standing still. She watched them go, sighing as she thought about everything that would lead up to the following week.

She then turned to the tables, sitting on one and opening her omni-tool. Aiden gurgled, the gurgle quieter than usual. However, it was also quite a bit more hopeful than she had heard his gurgle sound in a long time.

She nodded, sighing as she pulled her legs onto the table. "Yeah," she said. "You're right. We'll get to the bottom of this somehow."

And with this, she turned her attention back to her omni-tool.

* * *

Jodie strummed her guitar again, looking up at the various people passing by. She sat out again, on the last pass she would be able to strum her guitar before she was deployed by Anderson. The people were all the same, her songbook was still mostly Beck...

And yet, Jodie felt a very different energy in the air. It was almost bittersweet, and it colored the way she strummed the various chords, changed the way her vocals sounded off on it. She was sure the people noticed it as well: some of them that she knew could be relied on to stay away strayed closer, and faces she had known to give were sometimes a little more reluctant to do so. Nevertheless, she kept playing.

After all, it would be the last time she would get to play out in the streets for a long time, if ever.

She almost did not notice when the sound of someone's clothes rustling next to where she sat was. It was only when she looked over between sets that she saw that Kolyat had once again taken a seat next to her.

Jodie sighed, sitting back against the wall. "You need to stop sneaking up on people like that," she said.

"You know I can't help it," Kolyat replied.

"That's a good excuse if you want to avoid fixing it," Jodie replied, her eyes narrowing.

"Whatever," the drell replied. He sighed, looking over at Jodie. "Sorry. It was a rough trip this time. Uncle got into a fight with Aunt this time."

"Oh." Jodie paused, looking at the drell. "Is it always that bad?"

"No," said Kolyat. He scoffed. "I just wish my father hadn't dumped me with them."

Jodie blinked, turning to look at the drell. "Huh?"

"My father dumped me to live with them," Kolyat replied. He shifted his posture, his frown narrowing. "I haven't seen him since my mother died."

"Your... Oh..." Jodie sighed. "I'm sorry. I... I shouldn't have said anything."

"I don't tell most people," the drell replied. "She died when I was young. My dad left me with my uncle and aunt. And then, he just disappeared from my life. Just like that." The young drell scowled, his eyes narrowed. "He probably forgot I exist. If he didn't want me, he could've just said so."

Jodie cringed, looking away from Kolyat as she took a shaky breath in. "You think he did that?" Jodie paused.

"Why not?" asked Kolyat bitterly. "He was a damn coward. He didn't want me. He was always away from home for long periods of time, even while mother was alive. And she'd sit there and wait for him to come home. He never came home, and when he did he was only ever there for a day at most. The one time he stayed longer than a day was when my mother died, and he just looked at her body as she was let into the oceans of Kahje, without feeling  _anything_. He just stared out into the ocean like nothing!"

Kolyat shook his head, and Jodie could see the beginnings of tears forming in his eyes. "He should've just said it," he continued. "That would've made it easier."

Jodie sighed. "It..." Jodie sighed, rubbing her temple. "It doesn't make it any easier," Jodie replied. "It really doesn't."

Kolyat turned, glaring at her. "And why the hell would you say that?" he asked.

"I had an adoptive family that didn't want me," said Jodie as she took her strumming hand away from the guitar. "That adoptive father didn't want me, and I knew he didn't." She sighed. "The last time I ever saw him, he called me a monster as he left. There were... things that surrounded that, but he made it clear he didn't want me. And he told me right to my face, and..." Jodie closed her eyes. "Sometimes I wish he had just kept his mouth shut."

The drell blinked, surprise barely registering on his face. However, his pupils had widened somewhat, something Jodie could see even in the lighting of the 800 blocks. "Oh," said Kolyat. He then paused, looking away. "So you too, huh?"

Jodie chuckled bitterly. "Troubled childhood doesn't even  _begin_ to describe it," she said. "I'll tell you the whole story some day." She then looked at Kolyat. "Well, if we ever run into each other again."

Kolyat frowned. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I'm going to be gone for a bit," Jodie replied. "I'm being deployed somewhere on a mission."

Kolyat frowned. "A mission?" he asked. "A mission to do what?"

"The details are classified," Jodie replied. She sighed. "I'm sorry." She then turned to the drell. "But if you want, I can give you my extranet address."

"Don't bother," said Kolyat.

Jodie frowned, looking over at the drell. "Kolyat?" she asked.

"It's all the same with my friends," he replied. "For whatever reason, they don't want to talk to me." He then glared at her. "I guess you're just another number on that list, huh?"

Jodie's frown deepened, before she set her guitar in the case. "Kolyat, that's not-"

"It's not?" asked Kolyat. "Then explain why everyone does it. They all stop wanting to talk to me for whatever reason. It's like nobody wants me around."

"Kolyat,  _listen_ to me," said Jodie as she leaned over. "It's not that I don't want you, it's that I have to do some things!"

"And that means you're leaving me behind, right?" asked Kolyat. "It's what they all do."

"That's why I want to give you my extranet address," Jodie replied, leaning closer to Kolyat. She sighed. "Look, I know what you're feeling. I know you need to vent at something. So if you ever want to vent at anything, you can vent at me. I  _promise_ you, I'll reply."

Kolyat blinked. "I..." He then growled, opening his omni-tool. "Fine. But if you never reply, then I'm throwing you with all the rest of them."

Jodie shook her head, opening her own omni-tool. "You won't have to worry about that," said Jodie. "I want to help."

"Sure," Kolyat replied. "What's your address?"

Jodie nodded, showing Kolyat her omni-tool. "There you go," she said. She looked over at Kolyat. "Don't hesitate."

"Whatever," Kolyat replied, typing it out on his omni-tool.

Jodie shrugged, watching the drell copy her extranet address. She then sat back as he finished. She then shrugged, pulling her guitar back out. She returned to playing that guitar shortly afterwards, Kolyat watching her as she did her thing.

And as she strummed on, her thoughts turned to the mission. Kalo and Ashley would both be there for certain, and she had a good feeling Sura would be there. As she remembered them, her confidence grew.

 _Big things are going to happen, Aiden,_  she thought.  _But I'll be ready for them. Won't you?_

Aiden gurgled rather loudly. Jodie cracked a smile, her strumming becoming a little more lively as she continued her playing.


	3. Chapter 3

Jodie and Kalo walked down the docking bay, Jodie pulling at her sleeve. Kalo carried Jodie's guitar case with him, both quarian and human looking ahead of them as they walked on. There were no words exchanged between them: there were no words needed, after all. Jodie was intensely concentrated, walking forward with a renewed sense of purpose.

Aiden chirped as they neared the location Anderson's message had told them to go to. Sure enough, there was Ashley Williams and Councillor Anderson both standing by a docking arm, a somewhat smaller vessel connected to the docking arm. The vessel seemed of rather decent size, though Jodie noticed chief among other things that the front of the ship was tapered into an arrow head shape: behind the ship, she could see four things that looked akin to very long tentacles. It looked rather sleek and aerodynamic, though it looked a tad too glitzy on the outside.

Jodie's attention turned back to Ashley and Anderson. And as soon as it did, Jodie blinked noticing the asari in black armor that stood by Ashley. Jodie frowned, but after a second, she recognized the asari wearing the armor. She turned to Kalo, the quarian also looking at Jodie as the lights behind his mask had widened.

They then walked forward, Jodie and Kalo both pulling Sura T'Lenya into a hug. "You made it!" Jodie said.

"Hey, hey," said Sura, gently breaking up the hug. "Let's not get all affectionate here. I don't need you guys getting my commando armor all dirty so soon after polishing it."

"I am glad you are able to come," said Kalo.

"Eh, what can I say?" said Sura, looking over at Anderson. "Turns out the Council's got a lot more pull than I thought they would." She paused. "Well, the one Councillor, anyway." She then turned to Anderson. "They explained the mission parameters to me well enough, sir."

"I'm glad they did," said Anderson. "Saves me the trouble of explaining it, especially out in the open."

"Indeed," said Jodie. She then looked around. "Is this everyone?"

"It should be," said Ashley. "Unless something changed with Xerxes."

Sura shrugged. "Ah, him," she said. "I talked to Xerxes about that. I don't know if he's changed his mind. If he did, he's already a little-"

"-late? Huh. Good thing I didn't miss the party."

All five of the people on the ground jumped, looking around for the source of the sound. Aiden trilled in alarm, Jodie jumping around as she frantically looked around the area.

And then, right as Jodie turned to look by the docking arm, she saw a figure materialize in front of her. Jodie gasped, the others' attention being drawn to this stranger almost immediately. She was obviously human, Jodie could tell. But underneath the hood, Jodie could not tell much else, except for potentially the mischievous glint in this stranger's eyes. The body-suit she wore hugged her curves a little tightly, but it seemed more to allow her to move quickly. It also gave her great balance, if her ability to sit on the railing right next to the docking arm was any indication.

Sura immediately grabbed her pistol, aiming it at the stranger. "Get on your knees with your hands in the air, now!" she barked out.

"And here I thought I'd get greeted with a congratulatory slap on the back," the stranger intoned almost playfully.

"You just appear from nowhere and expect us to celebrate it?" Kalo asked, tilting his head in confusion. "What manner of human  _are_ you?"

"Oh, just a friend," said the stranger as she opened her omni-tool. "You may know me better as one Kasumi Goto."

Jodie frowned. "Kasumi Goto?" she asked. She then crossed her arms. "I can't say I've ever heard the name."

"Kasumi Go..." Sura then stepped forward. "You're that thief!"

Ashley crossed her arms. "She's not a standard thief, is she?" she asked.

"Nah," Kasumi replied, stepping off the railing. "I'm more in the big leagues. It's a little more fun that way."

"The only way this'll be fun for you is if you turn yourself in," said Sura. "Let the courts decide how much  _fun_ it is. What are you even doing here?"

"Oh, right, I almost forgot," said Kasumi, opening her omni-tool. "I'm here 'cause I'm doing a favor for an old friend." Kasumi turned to Sura, winking at him. "You might know him, actually."

Jodie and Sura glanced at each other in shock. And then, Jodie turned to Kasumi. "You know Xerxes!" said Jodie.

"Yep," said Kasumi. "He and I go way back. I used to get information for heists from him, once upon a time. I thought I'd never hear from him again after he said he was going the straight path." She then turned to Jodie and Sura, smiling. "You two should be thankful for Xerxes. He's  _very_ good to his friends."

Jodie sighed in relief. "Oh, good, he  _doesn't_ hate me," she said.

"I guess I'm glad to see I got through to him, but that doesn't answer my question on what the hell a  _thief_ is doing here," said Sura.

"Well, he told me to help you guys out," said Kasumi. She then shrugged, pulling open another file on her omni-tool. "And I'm nothing if not a brilliant hacker. Just now, I managed to hack into your personnel files, Officer."

Sura blinked, her frown deepening. "You did what?" she asked angrily.

"I have to say, you have an interesting case history," said Kasumi as she looked at the files. "Some of these cases you're involved with... Oh, you were one of the investigators in  _that_ killing? Interesting. I always thought that was the work of Garrus Vakarian, there."

Sura leaned forward, her teeth bared as she grabbed Kasumi's arm roughly. Kasumi blinked in surprise, pulling away from the asari before she was pulled forward. "Listen up,  _Goto_ ," said the asari. "I haven't got the patience to deal with this. Whatever joke you think you're pulling, it's not even in the same star system as comedy. So cut the bullshit out, tell us what it is you can do, and  _maybe_ I won't consider arresting you on the spot." She glared right at the thief.

Jodie, Kalo, and Ashley all looked at the two of them, Anderson simply watching. Aiden clicked once, a hollow click that perfectly matched Jodie's surprised expression. She turned to Kalo, before glancing back at the two of them. Kasumi remained silent for a few seconds, looking at Sura with wide eyes while Sura glared directly at the thief.

And then, Kasumi wrenched her arm from the asari's grasp, closing her omni-tool. "Fine, fine," said Kasumi. "Lighten up."

"I'm usually pretty light," said Sura as she pulled away. "But I  _don't_ like people snooping through my stuff."

Kasumi sighed. "Sorry," she said. She then turned to the others. "Anyway, I'm a hacker, and I have stealth expertise. So if you need someone to get to a place you can't get to, I'm your girl."

"Jodie's pretty good at stealth too," said Ashley.

Jodie chuckled. "I don't have whatever it is that lets her turn invisible, though," she replied. "That could be useful too."

"And hey, if we're trying to get information out, a hacker could be really helpful," said Ashley.

"Well, I for one am not up for working with someone who'd probably steal my gun while I slept," said Sura.

"I don't think you'll have to worry about that," Kasumi replied as she shook her head. "After all, there's no fun in stealing another person's gun as they sleep." She then slowly pulled a pistol out from her utility belt. "Besides, I brought my own."

Sura growled, before finally holstering her own gun. "Well, I guess I've got no choice," she said. "Remind me to have a talk with Xerxes when we return."

" _If_ you return," said Anderson. "This is still a very dangerous mission."

"Relax," Kasumi replied. "I don't think we need that kind of fatalism."

Sura sighed. "I'll say," she said. She then turned to Jodie. "So what's the plan?"

"Go to Alchera, find out what we can there, and follow wherever it takes us," Jodie replied. "From there, we'll have to improvise."

"It is all we can do," Kalo added.

"Well, we're not going to get that done over here," Kasumi replied. "We should get going soon!"

Ashley nodded. "She's got a point," she said.

Jodie nodded. She then looked at Councillor Anderson, bowing her head. "Thank you," she said. "I promise you that I won't return to the Citadel until I have something to show for my efforts." She then looked back up. "Please look after Kalo's ship for us."

"I will," said Anderson. "I hope you can find something."

"We  _will_ find something," said Jodie. "I'll make sure of it."

Anderson nodded. "There is one more thing you must note," he said. "We're assigning a pilot to this mission to pilot this craft."

Kalo nodded. "I assume he has been briefed?" he asked.

"He has," said Anderson. "Well, what we could brief him on. We told him there were things he'd have to learn when he met the team. One of them being your little friend."

Jodie nodded. "Thanks," she said.

"Where is he now?" asked Kalo.

"Making final preparations in there," Ashley replied. "Just has a few diagnostics to run. He told us to meet him in there."

Jodie nodded. "Thank you," she said, bowing her head. "I'll go ahead and do that while we leave the Citadel."

Anderson nodded. "Good luck," he said. "Here's hoping you can find something."

And with this, the Councillor walked away. The group of five gathered around the gangway, all of them looking at the rather modest vessel they were close to. It was nothing really at all that big: truly, it was smaller than a frigate. But from what they could see of the ship, it would serve the functions it needed to just fine, not to mention it could pass for a non-Alliance vessel easily enough.

"Well, let's not keep him waiting," said Ashley. "Come on. He's just in here."

And with this, Ashley walked towards the gangway, everyone else following her in. They then stepped into the airlock, the decontamination cycle passing by seemingly very quickly. Aiden chirped in confirmation, and then Jodie nodded as she looked over at the door into the ship.

After a short while, that door opened, and they opened out to the pilot's seat.

And sitting there in the pilot's seat was a human, obviously. His short black hair had been shaved almost to his head, the buzz cut sort of standing out from everything else. The pilot turned, regarding the group with his eyes hidden by a pair of sunglasses. He tapped his foot against the floor, looking at everyone.

"So," the pilot began. "Who's going to make my formal introduction to Blasto and crew, and do I get to be the slutty one?"

Sura groaned, facepalming as Jodie and Kalo both gave each other confused glances. "Um..." Jodie said. "Blasto?"

"You know, the movies?" asked the pilot. "They're kind of a big deal."

Kasumi then mock-whacked the bulkhead. "Aw, I called that position!" she said mockingly.

"Hey!" The pilot stood up, pointing right at Kasumi. "Don't dent the lining!"

"Why would you even  _want_ to call that position?" Sura asked, rubbing her temples.

The pilot turned, crossing his arms as he gave her a non-plussed expression. "Have I ever told you the story about how I slept with the CAG's daughter?" he asked.

Ashley sighed. "Oh dear..." she said. "This is going to be an interesting mission."

"No kidding." The pilot then turned with a broad smile, gripping the bulkhead above him as he held his hand out to Jodie. "Chris Valentine, at your service."

Jodie blinked, before gingerly taking the pilot's hand. "Uh... Jodie Holmes," she said, shaking it. She then gestured behind her. "So... uh... you're the pilot, I take it."

"Yup," said Valentine as he nodded. "Sorry I couldn't meet you outside. I was doing some diagnostics. There's one last one I'm doing right now, but it should be done in a few minutes."

"Good," said Jodie. "We should probably be off soon."

"Indeed." Kalo looked up, his eyes scanning the cockpit. "This is a very interesting ship we have here. It seems rather... unsophisticated, given its outward appearance," he noted.

"Well, that's part of the point," Valentine replied.

"I guess we got a Corsair ship, huh?" Ashley asked.

"You got that right," said Valentine.

"Corsairs?" Sura asked. "I'm not familiar with them."

"Then they're doing their job," said Valentine. "They're the guys the Alliance hires to do operations that we can use plausible deniability on."

Jodie grit her teeth upon hearing this. She breathed in sharply, Aiden trilling in alarm. "So you can get away with anything if you use them..." she said.

"Well, we just do it to get sensitive intel," said Valentine. "But they're on their own if they get caught."

Jodie frowned, but this frown faded quickly. However, Aiden's dark click allowed Jodie to know that someone agreed with her. "I see..." she said. She rubbed the back of her head. "So we're in a ship meant to deceive whoever might be looking."

"Yep." Valentine walked past the group, gesturing to them. "Follow me and I'll give you the guided tour." He then paused at the door, hitting the control panel open. "Forgive the amenities, though. They're not exactly the best things in the galaxy."

"I have had to make do with much worse," Kalo confessed as the group walked deeper into the ship.

They then walked into the body of the ship, all of them walking into a rather short corridor with four doors. There was a door on the far end, but Jodie assumed this was the engine room. She then looked around to the other doors, her attention turning back to Valentine as Aiden chirped in glee.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Lying Bastard," said Valentine as he turned around to face the group.

Ashley frowned. "The Lying Bastard?" she asked. "I thought this ship had a different name..."

"Well..." Valentine glanced up. "I would tell you what it was, but I don't remember. So until I do remember it, it's the Lying Bastard." He shrugged. "Anyway, we are currently sitting inside the hull of a hanar pleasure yacht."

"I knew it!" Sura said, throwing her arms in the air. "Of course they would choose a hanar pleasure yacht to hide us in!"

Kasumi shrugged. "Well, if nothing else, it'll get us into the Terminus systems all right," she said. "Everyone will think we're just hanar tourists, looking around the galaxy for something interesting."

"That, and it can get us underwater, too," Valentine replied, leaning against one of the walls of the corridor. "What better place to hide than under the ocean, you know?"

Sura pursed her lips, before nodding. "Yeah, that would be pretty useful," she conceded. "So I guess this ship is outfitted with standard amenities?"

"Pretty much," Valentine replied. He then opened the door on his right, gesturing to a series of computer monitors. "We've got a little data center in here, if we need to look over anything. We've got monitors fitted with the latest in espionage tech, a small little science area to look at examples..." He shrugged. "You need it, we got it."

"And armory?" Ashley asked.

Valentine gestured to the weapons lockers on the other end of the room. "Also in there," he said. He then gestured to a large table in the center of the room. "If you need to modify any weapons, you'll be doing it on that table."

"Well, it's good it's equipped for combat," Ashley replied. "We might be getting some of that."

"Never be unprepared, as the Corsairs would say." Valentine then walked past the group, walking straight to the other end of the hall. He then opened the door. "And here... well, I thought it'd be nice to fit a little rec area if we needed it," he said.

"Oh, so you  _weren't_ thinking of one thing only for stress relief," said Sura.

"Hey, I got no problem with Rishathra," Valentine replied.

"Uh... Rishathra?" asked Jodie.

"What is that?" asked Ashley.

Valentine sighed. "Larry Niven reference," He shook his head. "Nevermind." He then turned towards the rest of the rec room. "Anyway, if you need to just let loose, we've got all sorts of amenities. Movies, games..." He then glared at everyone. "It's only the stuff saved to the hard discs, though. I don't have the equipment necessary to download stuff on the extranet."

"Too expensive, or would it shine too much of a beacon on us?" Jodie asked.

"Too expensive," said Valentine as he gestured in. Jodie looked in, seeing a few couches gathered around a holographic display. "Besides, the silence is kind of nice." He shrugged, before walking to the other two doors on the end. "And this... well, we don't have much in living arrangements, but we've got it covered. Sleeping quarters are on the right, bathrooms on the left." He shrugged. "And before you ask, yes: they  _are_ unisex."

"So I might have to share a shower with you, then," said Sura. "Wonderful. I'm positively shivering in anticipation."

"Hey, I'll adjust my shower schedule if it bothers you that much," said Valentine. "I'm the slutty one, but no means no and all that."

Sura nodded. "Thanks," she said. "It's good to know you still have at least a sense of privacy."

"I do my best," Valentine replied. He then nodded. "Anyway, that's most of the ship. Just one more thing." He then pointed to the door right at the end of the corridor. "That leads into the engine room. It also has a door to a small hangar bay."

"A small hangar bay?" Jodie asked. "What does it have?"

"It has a Kodiak," said Valentine. He then turned to the quarian. "You can handle navigating one of those, right?"

"No, but I can learn rather quickly if you give me some time with the controls," Kalo replied. "I assume the Kodiak is used for ground drops?"

"Well, if we can't take this with us, anyway," Valentine replied. He then shrugged, looking around at the group. "Well, that's the tour. The diagnostic should be finished by now."

"Good," said Jodie. She then grabbed Valentine's wrist. "But  _before_ we get going, Anderson said he hadn't briefed you on the whole thing."

"I was just briefed that you were looking for intel, yes," Valentine replied. "But he  _did_ say you would have to brief me on some things when you came on."

Jodie nodded, before looking at Kasumi. "And you haven't been told either," she said.

"About what?" Kasumi asked.

Kalo nodded, looking at Sura and Ashley. "We will need some time," he said. "You can get acclimated to your surroundings, I hope?"

"Yeah," said Ashley. She nodded. "I have to get out of this armor, anyway. It's a little stuffy."

"Easier to walk around outside of it, right?" said Jodie. She nodded to Valentine and Kasumi. "Come on. I have a lot to talk to you two about."

* * *

"So let me get this straight. You think Shepard is an alien from some other galaxy, you convinced Anderson of that, and your evidence is some little  _ghost_ that you have?"

"Yes."

"And you expect me to believe that."

"Yes."

Valentine sat back, giving a dismissive wave of his hand. "Next you'll tell me I'm just a random college student from Earth who got pulled into this place because of some version of Prothean pseudo-science!" he replied.

Jodie sighed. "I'm telling the truth," she replied.

"It's very difficult to believe," said Kasumi. "Ghosts don't exist."

"Yeah, you're going to have to present a lot of evidence about this Aiden's existence," Valentine replied as he leaned forward. "I don't believe in ghost stories, you know."

"Not a lot of people do..." said Jodie. She then sighed, looking at Kasumi. Aiden chirped. "Um... Kasumi, do you mind if I end up divulging something...  _personal_ about you?"

Kasumi chuckled. "I cover my tracks very well," she replied. "You can't find anything."

Jodie shook her head. "I'm not so sure of that..." she replied. She then held her hands out to Kasumi. "Take my hands."

Kasumi blinked, her gaze trained on Jodie's hands. "Um... if you say so," she said. She then placed her hands in Jodie's, chuckling as she looked over at Valentine. "Hey, if nothing else, it'll be interesting to see what she comes up with."

"Yeah," said Valentine. "It'll be amusing to see her flounder with that."

"I would not be confident of that," Kalo replied. "You underestimate Jodie in that way."

Valentine frowned. "Aren't most of you quarians spacers?" he asked.

Kalo shrugged. "I know good evidence when I see it," he replied. He then turned to Jodie, whose gaze remained intent on Kasumi's hands. "And in this case, I believe you are meeting the-"

And then, Jodie threw her head back, her eyes going all-white. She leaned back, looking directly at Kasumi.

"Uh, Jodie?" asked Valentine. "That's a great practical effect and all, but-"

" _Kasumi_..."

Kasumi reared back, her eyes visible under her hood for the first time. They were wide in shock, and it was only this shock that kept her rooted in place. Valentine also turned to Jodie in shock, noticing the suddenly deep, manly voice that came out of Jodie's mouth.

"This... This is a joke!" said Kasumi quickly. "That... there's  _no way_  you could-"

" _Kasumi, please..._ " the voice replied through Jodie. " _I... I never thought I'd get to talk to you again. Our last job didn't end so well... did it...?_ "

Kasumi looked at Jodie, her eyes starting to water. "It..." And then, the group saw a tear slip down Kasumi's cheek. "Keiji..."

Jodie leaned forward, her expression taking on a kind nature as she moved. " _I'm here now..._ " the voice soothingly replied, though Jodie's hands did not move. " _I'm sorry it happened so suddenly. I didn't... I didn't have a choice._ " Keiji paused. " _You're... you're still looking for my greybox._ "

Kasumi sniffled. "In between jobs, I look for whatever information I can find..." she replied. "I just... I want our memories, Keiji..."

Jodie nodded grimly. " _You... you will have to destroy the greybox, Kasumi,_ " said Keiji's voice. " _I discovered something big, it could get the Alliance implicated. The data is intwined in my memories of us. If anyone went looking, they would have to go through that. It's not going to hold out forever, though... you have to destroy that greybox, it's the only way._ "

"This isn't you!" Kasumi shouted. Valentine and Kalo both shrank back as Kasumi tried to pull away from Jodie. However, Jodie held Kasumi in a death grip, and as Kasumi stood up, so did Jodie. "This is a sick practical joke! Let go of me, Jodie! You've had your damn fun, now stop this, please!"

" _Kasumi_..." Jodie only replied back soothingly. Jodie stood there, her expression shifting. " _Do you remember the first time we met? When you tried to steal the painting out from under me?_ "

Kasumi paused, the tears flowing freely from her eyes. " _Decay, Cycle One,_ " Kasumi replied.

" _Asari-painted,_ " Jodie continued. " _You had been hired to take it, as had I._ "

"You had already gotten there when I had shown up," Kasumi said. "I tackled you..."

" _Face first into the ground..._ " Jodie paused, her gaze sentimental. " _I'm still glad we never turned it in to our employers. Where is it now?_ "

"It's... in a safe place," Kasumi said with a sniffle. "Right next to a single red rose."

And here, Jodie chuckled, the chuckle several tones deeper than it should have been. " _Still with the sentimental silliness?_ " she asked.

Kasumi chuckled. "I guess you just can't let go of some things." She shook her head, turning back to look at Jodie. "Keiji, I miss you so much..."

" _I miss you too, Kasumi,_ " said Keiji. " _It can be rather lonely without you here. But you still have so much to do here, I know it._ "

"I know," said Kasumi. She then sniffled, looking directly at Jodie's eyes for a second before she turned her gaze away. "The greybox is the only thing left..."

" _No,_ " Jodie replied. " _You still have your own memories. Keep those close to your heart, and never forget what they mean. You don't need a piece of technology to relive them._ "

Kasumi nodded, tears freely slipping out of her eyes. "Okay..." She nodded, sniffling softly. "Okay."

" _I love you, Kasumi,_ " Keiji replied. " _Keep your memories close._ "

The thief closed her eyes. "I love you too, Keiji..." she said. "I always will..."

And as Kasumi looked down at the floor, Jodie's eyes returned to normal. Jodie blinked, before peeling away from the thief. Kasumi promptly fell to her knees, sobbing quietly.

Kalo immediately walked over to Kasumi, pulling her into his arms as Jodie looked on. Jodie glanced away, her brows furrowed as she placed a hand on her own heart. She closed her eyes, leaning against the bulkhead as Aiden trilled an apology to her.

 _Aiden, please..._  Jodie thought bitterly.  _I know that probably helped, but_ -

"That was kind of a bitch move." Jodie opened her eyes to see Valentine standing in front of her. "Opening up old wounds in front of us like that."

Jodie sighed. "I can't control what Aiden will do when he does that," she replied. "And I can't control my body when the dead speak through it." She shook her head. "Aiden is his own mind..." She then glanced down, guiltily. "I should've asked you to leave the room first. I would've figured something out then..."

Valentine shrugged. "Yeah, that's pretty personal," he said. He then looked at Kasumi. "And if you're lying about the ghost, then that makes it even worse. Though..." He then paused. "I guess you don't have a voice modifier on your omni-tool."

"Afraid not," said Jodie as she opened her omni-tool. "Here, see for yourself."

Valentine leaned forward, scrolling through the list of apps on Jodie's omni-tool. He frowned, opening a different window and looking through there, but Jodie sat there and allowed him to do that. He spent about half a minute looking through everything, thoroughly inspecting it.

"Huh," Valentine said. "No voice modification on your omni-tool..." He crossed his arms. "Still difficult to believe you've got a ghost on hand."

"It would be tough for a lot of people to swallow, I know," Jodie agreed, hugging herself as she took a breath in. "You don't have to believe me now. If this pans out, we'll have all the proof you'll need."

"I suppose I can work with it for now," said Valentine. "I just hope this means I can trust you to keep personal information quiet."

Jodie nodded. "I should be able to do that in the future," she replied. "It was just the one time."

"Perhaps," said Valentine. He then walked to the door. "Perhaps." He then paused, looking at Jodie. "I'm gonna go ahead and get this ship started. I'll give you the ETA to Alchera once we've cleared the mass relay."

"Sure thing," said Jodie.

With this, Valentine opened the door, the pilot walking out of the room. Jodie sighed, taking another look at Kalo. The quarian nodded to Jodie, before he turned his attention back to comforting Kasumi. Jodie smiled sadly, before she herself walked out of the rec room, giving Kalo and Kasumi a little space.

* * *

True to Valentine's word, the ship took off from the docking bay in silence. Jodie felt a little bit tense as they took off, but Jodie got a good look out the window in the sleeping quarters.

Contrary to what she expected, these sleeping quarters were actually rather cozy. They had to use bunk-beds, sure, and it was more than likely that someone would have to take the couch for sleep if anyone else showed up, but the room was surprisingly roomy. There was also a coffee table out in the center of the room, and it was not in anywhere that anyone in the bunks could have been distrubed by. It was also nice and quiet, and Jodie saw that the window could be covered.

Not that she thought it should be covered at that point. She looked outside, seeing the Citadel in all its grand beauty for the first time in a long while. She had admittedly never seen the outside of the Citadel from that long a distance; seeing it then, she wished she had gotten to know it more. It looked massive from where Jodie stood, and she had to admit that there was a beauty to it.

Aiden chirped, to which Jodie replied by looking up.

"I know, Aiden," she said out loud. "It does make us feel a little small, doesn't it?"

Aiden clicked rapidly, before letting out a long coo.

Jodie chuckled. "Yeah," she replied. "I know what you mean." She then looked out, pausing. "Do you think Shepard's home galaxy will have something like this?

Aiden gurgled menacingly, the sound rough and almost angry.

"Yeah," Jodie replied. Her expression darkened. "Just remember: not everyone there will be like Shepard. You know to expect that."

The entity grumbled lowly. Jodie nodded, looking ahead at the Citadel.

"I know," she said. "But right now, we don't have any choice. The Alliance has resources we need. You know I can't just mount a mission against an entire galaxy. That would be suicidal, even if I had you."

Aiden chirped his disagreement at this, Jodie looking away from the window.

Jodie frowned, crossing her arms. "A police force is different," she replied. "There are only a few guys there, and I knew what they could do. But we're going into a galaxy where we have no idea what they're capable of. Here, we need friends, Aiden. I know you don't think we can do with them, but we need them."

Aiden then grumbled, Jodie looking off to the side.

"Yeah..." she said. "I know we didn't get on the best footing with them..." She sighed. "Well, I guess I'll have to get their trust somehow..."

Jodie sighed, before sitting on the edge of the bed. She then looked up as the intercom came to life.

" _Okay, crew, we're on top of the mass relay,_ " Valentine's voice said. " _We'll be making our long-awaited jump in three... two... one..._ "

And with this, Jodie looked out the window as the Citadel peeled away from her view. The exterior then took on a blue hue, Jodie simply watching from where she sat on the lower bunk. She glanced up at Aiden, or where she assumed he was anyway. Of course, her gaze was corrected by Aiden, who clicked somewhere outside the ship.

Jodie chuckled, turning to look at the hull. "Hey, now, don't get too cocky riding the relay jump," she said, a smile coming to her face. "You might make me jealous!"

In response, Aiden chirped teasingly. Of course, the mass relay jump was all too brief, and before long Jodie saw a black expanse filled with stars. She then stood up again, walking to the window and looking outside.

It was just as her eyes settled on a large space station by the side of the window that looked like someone had tried to sculpt a comet into an asteroid that the intercom buzzed to life again.

" _And on your right, you'll find sunny Omega!_ " Valentine said. " _I hear it makes a great vacation spot, so long as you don't mind the batarians trying to shove their assault rifles in your eyes. But alas, we can't really kick ass here, so we'll be heading out to Alchera ASAP. Our ETA here is about... hm... four hours or so. So sit tight, and I'll get us there pronto!_ "

Jodie nodded. "Good," she said out loud. "I guess we'll find stuff to do until then."

" _Hey, it's our ship now,_ " said Valentine. " _Long as we don't break it, we're good._ "

Jodie nodded, walking towards the door. "I'll be checking my armaments if anyone needs me," Jodie replied. "I need to see what the Alliance gave me."

" _Sure thing,_ " said the pilot. " _Chris Valentine, signing off._ "

And with his, Jodie left that room.

* * *

A few hours later, Jodie suited up, attaching the last of new armor to her leg. This new armor felt entirely different, a little lighter perhaps. Jodie was appreciative of this: doing stealth in the older, heavier armor she used to use on the Normandy would not be good. It was also a little more form-tight: she appreciated the extra mobility, though she did wonder what the stopping power of the armor would be.

"Got your hands on all the good toys, I see."

Jodie looked over at Sura as she finished suiting up. The asari's suit looked even more intimidating after being newly plated up. Sura also seemed to be able to fit it pretty quickly.

In reply, Jodie shrugged, pulling out her pistol from the locker and checking it. "Yeah," she said. She then holstered her pistol on her hip. "I guess Anderson really went all out."

"Shows how much faith he's got in your little ghost friend," Sura replied. She then frowned. "Um... Aiden doesn't object to being referred to as 'he', does it?"

Jodie cracked a smile. "Actually, he prefers that," Jodie replied as Aiden gurgled happily. "Being called 'he'. Reminds him he's not just something to be used by everyone."

Sura nodded. "So he has his own feelings, huh?" Sura rubbed her chin. "Interesting..." She shrugged. "Well, I guess we gotta get down to that Kodiak. Don't want to keep Kalo and Ashley waiting down there forever, right?"

"No," said Jodie as she smiled. She grabbed her helmet, rolling it over as they exited the lab. They then peeked into the cockpit, seeing Kasumi standing just behind Valentine.

Jodie glanced at Kasumi, but the thief turned away as soon as Jodie laid her eyes on her. Sighing, Jodie turned to Valentine, the pilot tapping a few indications on the holographic interface. She then looked past Valentine, looking up to see Alchera.

Jodie leaned closer, her eyes widening as she saw the large white planet that rotated in front of them. It seemed large and impersonal from where Jodie stood,

"There she is," Valentine said. "Let's hope Kurt Russell is down there."

Kasumi gave a half-hearted chuckle, Jodie snorting loudly. "I didn't expect you'd know that."

"Well, it  _is_ a classic," Valentine offered. "Can't neglect that, you know?" He then looked out. "Anyway, Kalo and Chief Williams are already at the Kodiak. They're just waiting on you two."

"I'll guess Chief Williams was giving Kalo the crash course on how to pilot it?" Sura asked.

"Well, not 'crash course'," Valentine replied. "I'm not about to get half my paycheck stolen to pay for the damages here."

Sura frowned. "I thought you were the slutty one," she replied.

"What, that means I can't be the snarky one too?" Valentine replied.

"Pretty much," Sura replied, crossing her arms. "I can't let you have more fun than you're supposed to."

"And knowing me, I'd find a way around that," Valentine replied. He then looked out. "Anyway, they're waiting for you there. Once you touch down... well, you know what to do. We'll be up here to let you know if anything changes from up here."

"Got it," said Jodie. She then turned, pulling her helmet on. "Well, Sura, let's go."

"Sure thing, Jodie," Sura replied.

With this, Jodie and Sura left, the asari fixing her own helmet onto her person.

* * *

The hangar bay was a very small affair: there was only enough room for the shuttle to get in and out, and not much else. Still, Jodie supposed it was better than nothing at all. The Kodiak could at least fit somewhat comfortably, and that was pretty important.

 _I just hope nobody has to park it quickly,_ she thought.  _That would suck if we did..._

She simply followed Sura on the pathway, stepping into the Kodiak in pretty short order. When they stepped inside, Jodie noticed that the shuttle was actually a bit larger than she would have thought. She stepped in, Sura stepping on after her. She then looked into the ship, seeing Kalo sitting at the helm. Ashley stood just behind him, though she turned to look at Jodie and Sura as soon as they entered the ship.

"Hey," said Ashley. "You took a little longer than I would've liked."

"What, you didn't want the space to bring him up to speed on how to operate your equipment?" Sura asked.

Ashley nodded. "Fair enough," she said. She then looked down at the quarian. "You got all that?"

"I believe so," said Kalo, his fingers touching a few holographic buttons. "I may need some assistance when landing this on a hard surface, though. I imagine a docking clamp is quite different from the ground."

"You'd be right about that," said Ashley. She then looked back at Jodie. "So... you ready to go down there?"

"If I'm not, I'd have wasted everyone's time," Jodie replied. She nodded, taking in a deep breath to steel herself. "I'm ready."

"I'm here now, so obviously I'm ready," Sura supplied.

"Let's do this, then," said Ashley.

Kalo nodded, his left hand flicking at a control. Jodie turned to look as the shuttle door closed. Ashley then pulled her own helmet on, Kalo inputting some more commands. Jodie then watched as Kalo leaned back.

"This is the Kodiak to the bridge of the Lying Bastard," said Kalo. "Do you copy?"

The comm buzzed to life. " _Yeah, I read you,_ " said Valentine. " _Running that quick comm check now, huh?_ "

"It would be fruitless to do it later, no?" asked Kalo.

" _Well, you do want to check it before you leave, sure, but that's not the point,_ " Valentine replied. " _Anyway, comms seem to be working. Be careful when you set off._ "

"Of course," Kalo replied. He then leaned back. "I will update you as we go along. Once we are on the ground, I will let you know when we are done."

" _Got it,_ " said Valentine. " _Just don't make me have to go in there to save your asses._ " He chuckles. " _I'll keep an eye out up here. If I see anything odd, I'll radio in._ "

"I see," said Kalo. The quarian nodded, his fingers touching a few other holograms.

"Keep an eye on them, soldier," Ashley said. "We'll be up when we find something."

" _Of course,_ " said Valentine. " _Let me know when you've landed._ "

And with this, the comm cut out. Kalo looked back, his hand hovering over one particular button. "Well, shall we?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Sura. "Let's do this."

Kalo nodded, and then he pressed his hand down. Jodie felt a very slight bump as the docking clamps disengaged. She then looked as the lighting changed, a whole fount of light flooding in from below as the bottom of the hangar bay dropped out from below. Jodie blinked, looking over at Kalo as the Kodiak slowly began to sink from out of the ship around them. She kept her gaze trained as the shuttle exited the ship, Kalo keeping it steady.

"Hm, not so difficult," Kalo replied. He then looked out to the surface of Alchera, his hands taking positions where a pair of holographic circles appeared. "You made it seem harder than it is, ma'am."

"I guess I did," said Ashley. She then looked out. "Bring us in. You know the coordinates."

"Of course," said Kalo, one of his hands bringing up another screen.

Jodie then breathed in, watching as the Kodiak lurched forward. Before long, Jodie and the others watched as the shuttle entered Alchera's atmosphere rather quickly.

* * *

As soon as they came upon the wreckage of the Normandy, Jodie's eyes widened in wonder.

"There it is..." said Sura, indicating out the window. "It's..."

But the asari cop was left speechless. The wreckage of the Normandy was a sight to behold; even though it was a bunch of twisted metal that rose up to the sky, there was something hauntingly beautiful about its destruction. Snow blanketed some parts of the wreckage, but what was left seemed to be as if it had just crashed. Off to the side, one of the Normandy's thrusters stood embedded in the dirt. In another area, Jodie saw what she recognized as the Mako, laying at an angle; she saw the beginnings of the Mako being trapped in a snow structure from what had fallen in between the wheels. In another place, the frame of the Normandy had been reduced down to the supporting beams, those beams rising up as if in reverence towards the sky.

The Normandy's crash site was majestic and haunting.

"Man..." said Jodie. "I never thought..."

"It is like a warrior's grave, no?" Kalo asked.

"Yes," said Ashley. " _A thousand suns will stream on thee, a thousand moons will quiver, but not by thee my steps shall be, for ever and for ever._ "

Jodie nodded. "It's..." She looked away. "Damn... I should've been there."

"Nothing you could've done would've saved her," Ashley replied. She then looked at Kalo. "Come on. Let's touch down."

But the quarian had already flicked his finger. "Shuttle to the Lying Bastard," said Kalo. "We're down on Alchera. I shall be landing soon."

" _Gotcha,_ " said Valentine. " _Just let me know if you find anything interesting._ "

"Of course," said Kalo. "Keep a look out for anything suspicious."

And with this, Kalo cut the line, maneuvering the Kodiak around. Pretty quickly, he landed in a spot of undisturbed land directly in the center of the crash site. It was a surprisingly smooth landing, though Jodie wondered about whatever had happened to asking Ashley for help.

But as the shuttle door opened and the way to the Normandy's crash site opened up, all attention towards that was pulled away. And instead, Ashley and Jodie stepped out into the cold, Jodie feeling a chill run up her spine.

Jodie felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked back to Sura. "Hey," the asari said. "If you need time to just reminisce and mourn, I'll understand. I'll wait as long as you need."

"Thanks," Jodie said. "I might need that."

Sura nodded. "Just come to the shuttle when you find what you're looking for," she said. "I'll look for what I can."

Jodie turned to Sura, giving her a smile that Jodie was sure Sura could not see behind the helmet. However, her eyes were enough indication, and so Sura patted her shoulder and walked over to Ashley.

And then, Jodie turned, walking forward in the crash site. The wind blew loudly as she walked amidst the wreckage, the wind brushing snow against her visor. She heard Aiden give off a soft whisper, and after a second she watched as the snow was cleared away from her visor instantly.

She eventually came to a patch of debris that she recognized. The wreckage took the form of a long hall, the hall sloped up due to the angle that the debris in question had landed in. The hall was lined with pods, pods Jodie knew quite well. She slowly climbed up to the hall's gaping maw, noting all the dangling cables that hung between all the pods.

Her eyes darted straight to the pods on the left. And right there, in the middle of that row, was the pod she was most familiar with.

Jodie stepped in slowly, her footsteps audibly clanking against the cold metal floor. She bent down, touching the floor. The floor she had remembered had given way to warped metal, probably the actual floor underneath whatever material had covered it. Jodie's hand lingered on the floor, and she let out a soft sigh.

She then stood up. She advanced with slow steps, looking at the pod in awe. The glass cover of the pod laid in shattered pieces at the foot of the pod and the terminal controlling the pod looked like it had been hit by a car, but the pod itself was mostly intact. She walked up to it slowly, her hand reaching out and touching the inside. The material looked mostly intact, if a little singed from whatever fires had burned inside the Normandy.

Jodie sighed, closing her eyes as she leaned against the outside of the pod. She thought back to the DPA facility that she had been tasked to clean out as a teenager. She thought to all the bodies she had seen, even remembered the one sole survivor she and Aiden had been forced to kill. She remembered initially being disgusted as she slowly made her way deeper into the facility; it was almost like a crypt, one to a magnitude that she knew nobody should be exposed to at any age, let alone as a teen.

As she leaned against her old sleeper pod, she realized she had borne witness to something worse.

She ran her hand up and down the inside of the sleeper pod. The Normandy had been her home for a few months. It was where she had met most of the people that she cared about. Tali, Ashley, Liara, Wrex, Kaidan… They had all bonded within these walls.

At that moment, the Normandy was the very same crypt she had seen in that DPA facility long ago, except with a roof that was blown off.

Jodie sighed, feeling her eyes water as she leaned closer to the pod. Instinctively, her hand pulled away, and though she was not really bothered by Alchera's weather she found herself hugging her arms all the same. She opened her eyes, looking up at where she assumed Aiden was.

She opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it immediately. Aiden let out a low, sympathetic groan, to which Jodie nodded. She leaned against the pod for a few more seconds, and then exhaled rather harshly.

"Okay Aiden," said Jodie. "Let me know if you see anything."

Aiden clicked once, and then Jodie nodded. She then got on her knees and looked underneath the pods. She shined her omni-tool flashlight underneath, and frowned when she saw no traces of Shepard's armor there. She sighed, standing up and looking to the other row of sleeper pods. She saw how destroyed they were, and walked up to them. She touched one of the pods, and then flinched as a piece of the pod fell to the floor with a loud clatter.

Jodie shook her head, and then peeked into the other corners inside the sleeper pod area. She turned the corners, checked them with the flashlight, and sighed when she caught no sight of anything useful.

She breathed out, and it was then that she caught sight of something bright that shone against her flashlight. She frowned, edging closer to the object. She took a sharp intake of breath upon seeing the glint again in between the sleeper pods. She slowly approached, holding her hand out and grabbing the object gingerly.

When she brought the object to her, however, she saw that she was holding a pair of dog tags. She blinked, and then flipped the dog tags over.

Her expression fell when she saw the name listed on the back. She sighed, shaking her head. "Not Shepard." She then nodded, and then opened one of the compartments in her armor. "Well, I better hang on to this anyway. I'm sure his family would appreciate the closure."

She then deposited the dog tags in there, and closed the compartment up. She turned her omni-tool flashlight back on, and then nodded. She stepped closer to the pod she was in front of, and peered around the corner.

"Hm…" she said quietly. "Nothing he—"

And then, she heard a loud crash from behind her. She jumped, immediately turning around to see that one of the sleeper pods had been literally shoved off of its supports. She looked at the sparking wires, before realizing that the pod had been in no condition to land a foot or two away from where it had been put.

She then turned her gaze back to where she came from to see something mechanical standing there. Jodie took a short intake of breath, and it was only then that she recognized the lone flashlight-like light from where the head of the robot creature would be.

"Oh, fuck!"

Jodie jumped behind one of the pods, brandishing her pistol and firing blindly. As soon as her back slammed against the wall of the wreckage, she peered back out and fired at the lone geth unit that peered at her. She quickly brought her pistol to bear, and fired a few more shots.

Most of her shots bounced off of the geth's kinetic barriers. The last one managed to catch the geth unit on the shoulder, though the robot remained unfazed by its wound even as white fluid began to leak from it.

It was only as her weapon beeped loudly from the overheating that Jodie noticed that the geth remained unmoving from how she had seen it before. She took a sharp breath in, her pistol cooling down in front of her as the geth stood silently, only eyeing Jodie.

Aiden clicked rather softly, the pitch fluctuating mid-click. Jodie simply took a slow step out of cover, holding her pistol in front of her.

"What the fuck…?" she whispered.

And then, the geth took a slow, leisurely step towards Jodie. After this initial step, Jodie found herself too confused to open fire. Taking this as an indication, the geth unit stepped forward, and then took its time to walk up to Jodie.

Jodie refused to fire even as she was approached. When she peered around, she noticed that the geth was unarmed. She then looked back at the geth's flashlight eye, her finger on the trigger in case it decided to pull something out of thin air. She gritted her teeth as the geth approached, and then looked right at it.

The geth stopped in front of Jodie. It paused for a few seconds, Jodie slowly lowering the gun. As she did this, the geth leaned its head forward, its eye-light adjusting as it took stock of her. Its head flaps moved down first, and then Jodie saw them flare out for a second before returning to what could be called a normal position.

"Holmes-Anomaly. This unit of the geth did not anticipate your presence at Shepard-Supreme-Commander's last known location."


	4. Chapter 4

Valentine sat back, looking out the window as he placed his hands behind his head. "Well, here we are," he said. "Out in the middle of space."

He shrugged, looking at the vast expanse of stars outside of the ship. He laid back, his eyes glancing over the holographic readings. Nothing out of the ordinary seemed to be happening at that moment, and from what he could see outside there were also no ships out that were visible. He kicked back, exhaling audibly as he put his hands behind his head.

"And now, the part where we get to be lazy," Valentine continued. He then frowned, looking back at Kasumi Goto. "Or is that the part where we get to be bored out of our skulls?"

Kasumi said nothing. The thief stood over by the door to the airlock, the thief gently trailing her fingers along the bulkhead. Valentine shrugged, turning back to look ahead.

"You know, I'm surprised you're not down there with them," he said. He shrugged. "I mean, if there's a data cache they need to hack into, you're not there. And really, what's the point of you being the resident hacker if you're not going to do any hacking?"

"I'd probably freeze down there, first," Kasumi replied. "My catsuit wasn't made for that kind of temperature."

"Well, no, but I'm sure they would've accommodated you." Valentine turned. "It's something else, isn't it?"

Kasumi sighed. "I..." Kasumi turned away. "I don't know if I want to deal with her after what happened."

Valentine blinked. "Jodie?" The pilot stood up, walking over to where Kasumi stood. "I see."

"That was tough to think about after all these years," said Kasumi. "I'm still not over Keiji's death, and to hear his voice again was so..." Kasumi reached out, and Valentine could see that the thief's eyes were watering. "And it was so..." She shook her head. "It had to be Keiji. It had to be."

"Well, that's what a lot of people would say about that," said Valentine. "I'm not so sure I trust her on Aiden yet, but I'm willing to sit back and-"

"No, you don't understand," said Kasumi. "It wasn't just what she talked about." She sighed, looking down. "You know how when you really know someone well, you notice quirks whenever they talk? I noticed that. Just slight inflections." She chuckled bitterly. "I know it sounds silly, but when some of the tech you have is meant to rearrange a person's voice to get past a voice-activated lock, you notice inflections in people's voices, small pauses in some moments, a slightly clipped vowel..." She turned away. "Keiji had his own particular quirks, and some of them were things nobody else could imitate. There was no way she could've perfectly imitated Keiji, and yet it was his voice with his mannerisms..." She then grabbed her arms. "And she just sprung it on me like that..."

Valentine nodded. "Well, if it makes you feel better, I don't exactly  _disagree_ ," he said. "She could've been more tactful about that." He then turned away. "But sometimes... well, frankly, she's talking about a ghost. You wouldn't believe her if she just had something go bump. That shit can be easily rigged, you know."

"She'd never been on this vessel before," said Kasumi.

"Never attribute something to the supernatural unless there's no other explanation," Valentine replied. "And trust me, in most cases of that there is another explanation." He shook his head. "Point is, she'd have to do something  _really_ drastic to prove this ghost's existence. Was it the right choice? Probably not. But I can see why she did it."

"Still, that was rather hard to sit through." Kasumi shook her head. "I'm still doing this for Xerxes. He really did help me out a lot on some heists, and I do owe him quite a few favors. But I don't know if I should trust her..."

"Well, you'll just have to find that out, won't you?" Valentine asked.

Kasumi nodded, but did not say anything else.

And so, Valentine sat back, propping his feet close by some of the holographic panels.

"I wonder what they've found so far," Valentine said, glancing up at the ceiling of the ship.

* * *

Jodie's heart skipped a beat, and her shock was only amplified by Aiden's alarmed trill. "You… you talk!" she exclaimed, pointing at the geth unit in shock.

The geth unit tilted its head. "All geth are capable of communication," it replied. "This geth unit is the first designed for explicit interaction with non-quarian organics."

Jodie blinked in surprise, and then lowered her weapon. "Wait, you know who I am," she said. "So why aren't you trying to kill me? I mean, I killed a ton of your friends, and I thought... You want organics destroyed!"

"The geth do not wish to interfere in the matters of organics," said the geth unit. "The geth will only retaliate if or—"

"Bullshit!" said Jodie as she raised her pistol, pointing it right at the geth unit's chest. "You joined up with Saren to bring your Reaper Gods back to this galaxy! You were at the Citadel, for God's sake! Don't lie to me!"

"The geth did not join Saren," the geth unit replied. "The geth collective does not consider the geth that joined Saren to be the true geth."

"True ge…" She frowned, looking directly at the flashlight head. "And you expect me to believe that."

"This unit expects nothing," the geth replied. "This unit simply wishes to talk."

"I don't believe you," said Jodie. She shook the gun. "You have ten seconds to tell me what you want with me and why you came up to me, and then I'm blowing a hole in your chest. Be thankful I'm even allowing you to talk right now." She then glared up at the geth unit. "Talk. Now."

"This unit contains information pertinent to Shepard-Supreme-Commander," said the geth.

"Yeah, I'm sure you know about Shepard," she said. "Every geth knows about Shepard-Su—"

Jodie then paused abruptly, her brows furrowing as she looked down. "Wait, did you call him 'Supreme Commander'?"

"Yes," the unit replied.

Jodie held still for a few seconds, Aiden whooshing softly. She then lowered the pistol and took a step away. "Wait, there's no ranking in the Alliance Military that goes like that," she said. "I mean, last I checked he was just a Commander."

"Shepard-Supreme-Commander's title is not reflective of his known rank in the Systems Alliance," the geth unit replied. "Supreme Commander is designation of Shepard-Supreme-Commander's rank in what is called the Federal Armed Reserves."

"Federal Armed Reserves," Jodie repeated, her words trailing off. "That doesn't exist as any military I know, though." She sighed, rubbing her chin in thought. "I didn't even find it when I stopped living under a rock, so how…?"

And then it clicked in her mind.

Jodie pointed at the geth unit, her eyes bulging. "You know about his original galaxy!"

The geth unit tilted its head forward. "The true geth became interested in Shepard-Supreme-Commander after his conflict with the heretics," it replied. "During our research, this unit intercepted some communications between Shepard-Supreme-Commander and a currently unidentified contact." It then looked at Jodie. "We seek clarification. We followed Shepard-Supreme-Commander's trail for more data. The trail ends here."

Jodie nodded. "I see," she said. "But I'm here now…"

"Is there any information Holmes-Anomaly would share with this unit?" it asked.

Jodie paused, looking at the geth unit. She then turned to Aiden, and then back at the geth unit.  _On the one hand it is a geth,_  she thought.  _But if it meant harm, it would've done something by now, I'm sure of it. No other geth has waited this long… Nor can they talk…_

She then looked at the ground, her feet sliding on the floor nervously. Finally, she planted her heel into a particular rise of warped steel, and let out a sigh.

"Shepard never told us about this Federal Armed Reserves you're talking about. In fact, he never told us that there even  _was_ another galaxy." She then began pacing around. "He's been hiding the truth about himself from the rest of us, too: he's been telling us he's human since… I don't really know when."

The geth tilted its head. "Accessing data banks…" The geth's headplates shifted, and then returned to their regular position. "This new data matches the geth's hypothesis," it said. "This unit wishes to know how Holmes-Anomaly encountered this data."

"We were told about this other galaxy on a place called Ilos," Jodie replied. "Your friends would be very familiar with it. Or… the  _heretic_ geth. Whatever it is." She shook her head. "There was a Prothean AI on there. Vigil." She shook her head. "Though I wouldn't go there now. I… I think Vigil is—"

"Defunct," the geth replied. "This unit went to Ilos as part of Shepard-Supreme-Commander's trail. There was no Prothean AI."

Jodie nodded, glancing up at Aiden. "So he did destroy it, then," she said. She turned her attention back to the geth. "As for how I know he's not human…" She shook her head. "I'm afraid that's confidential. At least, for right now."

"This unit will not question Holmes-Anomaly further," it said. It then looked outside. "Shepard-Supreme-Commander's body is not present, but that unit's armor is still present." The geth turned to Jodie. "We would be willing to give a copy of our records of Shepard-Supreme-Commander's communications."

Jodie blinked. "You would be willing to do that?" she asked.

"Yes," said the geth. "Alert: we will also add all relevant data to the trade."

"But I thought the geth wanted to destroy organics," said Jodie.

"We do not wish to involve ourselves in organic affairs," said the unit. "However, if Shepard-Supreme-Commander engages in willful deception of this order, a geth-organic alliance may prove necessary for the survival of the geth."

Jodie nodded. "Because who knows what he's planning," she said. She paused for a few seconds, and then turned to face the geth. "So you're not going to stab us in the back or anything?"

"No," said the geth. "Though we will exercise caution in dealing with organics. The geth aim for self-preservation."

"Fair enough," Jodie said. "But you realize I'm probably going to be crucified for forming an alliance with a geth, right?"

"Error: 'crucified' not a term in our data banks," the unit said. "Clarify."

"You know, crucified?" Jodie asked. "Nailed to a wooden thing called a cross? It's kind of a brutal way to die."

"We will store this information in our data banks," the geth replied. "Our sensors indicated more signs of life in the area."

"Probably my friends," she said. "I came with others, we were going to investigate this place."

"Would Holmes-Anomaly lead us to them?" the geth asked.

Jodie glanced to the side. "I don't know how wise that would be," she said. "I mean, one of them is a—"

" _Ah! Geth!_ "

The geth and Jodie then turned to the entrance of the wreckage. Jodie barely got any time to talk before Aiden then formed a blue-hued barrier around them. This stopped the barrage of assault rifle rounds aimed directly at the geth unit, and it left Jodie to look up at Kalo'Veera. The quarian stopped firing the assault rifle after a few seconds, Jodie catching the faint beeping of the weapon's overheating indicator.

"Jodie, step away from the geth!" Kalo shouted. "You know it is—!"

"Wait!" Jodie immediately stood in front of the geth. "Kalo, listen to me! It might have data we need!"

Kalo paused, his helmet tilting towards Jodie. "And how do you know that?" he asked. "And what, did the  _bosh'tet_ tell you?"

The geth then stepped out from behind Jodie. "Creator," it said. "There is no cause for alarm. This platform of the geth has not harmed Holmes-Anomaly."

Kalo lowered his weapon in surprise. "Jodie, it…?" he asked.

Jodie then walked over to Kalo. "I'm not so fond of the idea of working with robots I just spent a few months shooting either," she said. "But… there's something about this geth unit, Kalo. It talks, it hasn't tried to kill me yet…" She then glanced back. "It knows about Shepard's galaxy, Kalo."

Kalo looked at the geth intently. He held his gaze for a few seconds, and Jodie could tell by the way his muscles tensed that he was very uncertain of what to do. The geth simply tilted its head to the side, returning Kalo's look with little more than a curious look.

 _Wait…_ Jodie thought.  _A geth? Curious?_

After a few seconds, Kalo shook his head, lowering his assault rifle. "I will simply point out that this may well cause my exile as soon as I return to the Fleet," he said, his words clipped slightly. "I will trust you on this, Jodie. But the  _second_ it turns on us, I will not hesitate to shoot it."

Jodie nodded. "But  _only_  if it turns on us," she said, looking at the geth.

Kalo tilted his head forward. After a few seconds, he then turned his attention to the geth. "And what do you mean, 'Creators'?" he asked.

The geth stood stock still. "You created us," it said. "Is it wrong to acknowledge you as such?"

The quarian paused, his head tilting slightly to the right. He then looked at Jodie, and Jodie could see from the way the light danced on the back of the visor that Kalo's eyes were narrowed.

He then sighed, turning back to the geth with drooping shoulders. "Keelah, help me," he said.

* * *

Valentine had just turned to go get himself some coffee from the rec room when he heard a beep on one of his panels.

The pilot paused, walking back to his seat. "Huh..." he whispered, pulling up a display.

The display showed a heat signature emanating from a rather short distance away. Valentine glanced out the window, seeing that there was no other ship close by. He then checked back to the display, frowning at what he read. He glanced out the window again, his eyes searching for the vessel around where the heat signature was in relation to the display. He saw nothing.

And right as he checked the display, the heat signature vanished.

He blinked, shaking his head. Valentine then opened another window, quickly commanding a diagnostics scan of the heat sensor. It had to be something wrong with the sensor, he was sure of it. After a few seconds, though, the results came back: everything was functioning perfectly with that scanner.

Valentine lowered his sunglasses, making sure he was not just seeing things. He then breathed in, blinking as he looked at the console.

He leaned forward, turning the comms on. "Chief, this is your pilot here," he said. "The boss didn't say he would be trailing us with a couple of Normandy-class frigates, did he?"

But in response, he heard nothing but static. Valentine frowned, leaning forward in his chair. He then adjusted the frequency of the comms, looking out the window with a frown on his face.

"Uh, Chief, this is your pilot," he said again. "Do you read me?"

And again, Valentine was met with static. The pilot frowned, looking out past his sunglasses. He then pulled them back on and typed a diagnostic command for the ship's comms. However, the diagnosis immediately came back; the ship's communications were perfectly functional.

Valentine looked back at the heat signature display, his frown now constant.

He then closed the display, before turning on the ship's intercom.

"Kasumi?" he asked. "Can you come up to the cockpit, please? I think we've got a problem."

After a few seconds, Kasumi rushed into the cockpit. "What's going on?" she asked.

"I think communications may be jammed," said Valentine. He then looked over. "I also picked up a heat signature that vanished a few seconds after we picked it up."

"You don't think it's because I'm here, do you?" asked Kasumi.

"Much as I'm sure the Alliance  _loves_ getting your attention, I don't think that's it," Valentine replied. "If it was Alliance, it would've hailed us by now."

"So you want me to figure out what's going on from here?" she asked.

"If you can," Valentine replied. He then shook his head. "But there's something odd about all this."

"What's that?" Kasumi asked.

"Normandy-class vessels can't make themselves invisible to the eye," he said, gesturing outside. "When I picked up that heat signature, I couldn't see any corresponding vessel outside."

Kasumi frowned. "Wait, what?" she asked. "That's not really possible, right?"

"No," said Valentine. "And that's what has me worried." He then shook his head. "Do what you can. We need to get to Jodie and Ashley, and soon."

"Got it," said Kasumi as she opened her omni-tool. "This'll be a piece of cake!"

Valentine nodded, looking outside as he drummed his fingers nervously against the armrest of his chair. He swivelled around, looking out to Alchera, wondering what Jodie had found down there.

* * *

Aiden gurgled nervously. Jodie could only sigh as she looked at the others in the group.

Everyone was standing by the pods, all of them arranged in a circle. Kalo had of course called everyone over on the comms, and so they were all gathered there. There was Legion, standing tall by one of the pods as it regarded everyone else. Ashley's gaze was trained at the geth, and on occasion she would turn to Jodie with a glare. Sura kept her gaze locked onto the geth, one hand tensing around her pistol; she was ready to pull it out at the slightest provocation, Jodie could tell. And Kalo just stood there, shaking his head periodically.

Jodie sighed, casting a nervous glance at the geth. The geth's head flaps moved. "We detect abnormally high vital signs in the other organics here," it said.

"Well no shit," Sura replied angrily. "I'm being asked to trust a goddess-damned  _geth_." She then turned to Jodie. "Are you insane?"

"Sometimes, I wonder if I'm not," Jodie replied.

"Your psychological profile indicates sanity, at least according to the organic perception of the term," Legion replies.

"I don't trust the machine on that," said Ashley.

"Look, I'm not confident of this either," said Jodie. "But this intel sounds too important to pass up. And besides, I did shoot at it when it first approached. It didn't shoot back, and even if it had been armed, it seemed like it wouldn't have fired."

Sura then turned to Kalo. "And you're just going along with this?" she asked.

"I am," Kalo replied. "But only because I trust Jodie. In any other situation, I would agree with you."

Sura nodded. "Glad to see I'm not the only one who's not going to get thrown into an asylum any time soon," she said. She then looked at the geth. "So what's this all-important intel Jodie was raving at us about?"

The geth opened its omni-tool, inputting a few commands. "This unit stated to Holmes-Anomaly that the geth intercepted communications between Shepard-Supreme-Commander and another unit." Everyone else in the room blinked as their omni-tools beeped. "They are text correspondences."

Jodie opened the files on her own omni-tool, checking back to Legion's omni-tool which displayed the files in question. She then looked through her own documents, glancing around her to see that everyone else was doing the same. "Looks complete to me," Jodie said. She then looked through the document.

"It looks like the data is corrupted, though," Kalo noted. He then looked up, comparing his own document to Legion's in appearance. "And it seems that the geth encountered that same problem."

"We could not save all of the data," said Legion. "When we first intercepted them, the document corrupted itself."

Jodie nodded, turning her attention to the text of the initial document:

" _SupprMé C-rWNder S4åparD-_

_WE Arè prwdcbi t2 rEpoot tHat Bê Jrmo LaMN prög8REs on nnfLItrarI89 CeRfalrs' ranks. WE haVe seZIRal exi0n ün1Ts ilrnde CerlaNAñ- sy5tVms NRO; BLRA 8rN B0zy acQUIRRng data oN wH3Rn 1TöR bAYz is, wRnio arico rnwtl c8rt7år aYt... Ir Láar 8Rne a l0cAtrin 44R all of these thÄr sìrn. IT wroz rmwo 4k2n 22 REsrouce5. wRREN hOVR tl╫r s09r, C0mMrecra. Rwc UUu hrva t2 d4 kR Grne the ordEr to atTAck, and we w1ll brIñg th0se mRNstWEs t2 jUstíce for WRaT th3y dI5._

_AS f4r tHr C0unci1- we ar! mroOnricrn rWnc 9rnw c,0Dre, mro! Orncr rnaCion o)rrt hE nRI9 rmw wEErk wilP dRtVrmorn 748 Çow pPrawl t-t-. wE kni$ey e geRNe4l aPrts o0 hOn le w1sh 20 aprroach th3m, but the spEciffc manNnr shA1l b3 remrrNin90 s0RÑ._

_Wrw134 bEin toUrc, ComMAnd3r._

_-OPp40tiRe NRIKB_ "

Jodie squinted to read some of the lines of data. "Wow, this looks really bad," said Jodie. "I didn't think it would be  _this_ corrupted."

"Half the file is unreadable..." said Kalo. He frowned. "I suppose I can see where you might get "Supreme Commander" from, at least..."

"We will attempt a clean-up of the corrupted data in the future," Legion replied.

"Kasumi might be able to do something about that," said Jodie. She then looked at the others. "But even with that, the parts we can read..."

"At least we can prove the information network is there." Ashley then glared at Legion. "Well, assuming this geth didn't make up this data."

"The geth would not manufacture data," said Legion.

"Sure," Sura said sarcastically, looking at the file information. She then shrugged. "I guess if I'm being fair, though, the file  _does_ look legit. Unless the geth are good at forgery, and that's a fact I very much think might be true, it looks legit. And you know, if it's legit, Kasumi should have very few problems trying to figure out how to clean it up."

"Yeah," Jodie said. Aiden released a click of confirmation, and then Jodie looked over at Legion. "So there's his actual title. Supreme Commander. I can barely make it out, though..."

"Anyone else think we stumbled into a pre-Citadel asari culture?" Sura asked.

"Not specifically that, but I suppose so," Kalo replied. "It does seem rather... overdone, at any rate."

"Yeah, sounds like it," said Ashley. She then turned to the geth unit. "So you got sent here."

"Yes," the geth replied. "We would like to pose a query.

Jodie leaned back, raising an eyebrow. "What about?" said Jodie.

The geth's head flaps moved. "Holmes-Anomaly was sent here to gather further data," it said.

"Yeah," said Jodie as she leaned forward. "We wouldn't be here otherwise. Why do you ask?"

"As we said to Holmes-Anomaly earlier, a geth-organic alliance may prove necessary for the survival of the geth," said the geth. "We think this would be an ideal opportunity to begin one."

Ashley jumped in surprise. "You want to form an alliance with  _us_?" Ashley asked.

"Yes," said the geth. "Our data suggests our efforts may yield the best results if we were to com-"

"Absolutely not!" Sura replied, turning to the geth. "You're just saying that so you can screw the Council later like your other buddies did!"

"We are not the heretic geth," said the geth. "We did not attack the Citadel."

"Oh, so I'm guessing you didn't attack Rannoch either, then," Sura replied with a bite in her tone.

"The Creators attacked the geth," the geth replied. "We acted to preserve ourselves."

"Of course, because all take-overs of a planet are done in the name of self-defense," Sura replied angrily. "Go on, what's the next excuse, machine? I suppose next you're going to say-"

And then, Jodie stepped between Sura and the geth. "Sura," Jodie said sternly.

"Jodie, this doesn't concern you," said the asari. "Stay out of it."

"I'm not going to have there be any fighting between us," she said. "If you have a problem with someone, don't hurl accusations at them like that." She then looked back at the geth. "Besides..."

The asari cop leaned back, squinting at Jodie. Her eyes then widened, and then she leaned right up to Jodie. "Jodie, you can't  _seriously_ be considering that!" said Sura.

"I am, Jodie replied.

Sura leaned forward forward. "Jodie, are you out of your  _damn_ mind?" she asked. "You're trusting a  _geth_."

"I know it's crazy, and I know it's probably stupid, too," said Jodie as she looked at the geth. "But we've been given good intel so far." She shrugged. "Besides, this one hasn't hurt us yet, has he?"

Kalo looked at Jodie. "Though I am loathe to admit it, she does bring up a good point," said Kalo. "If the geth unit wished to hurt us, I suspect it would have by now."

"Or maybe it's just holding back for when we get back to the Citadel," said Sura.

"This unit has no data on your plans after your visit to Normandy," said the geth. "We are also unarmed, and currently outnumbered against armed organics."

"You could just call in whatever fleets you have hiding behind the Veil," said Sura.

"With the combined forces of the Citadel Fleet and the Alliance Fleets, the geth would be outnumbered in a direct engagement," The geth replied. "Statistically, our chances of survival would be lowered if the turians and salarians sent reinforcements. Directly engaging the Citadel would lead to annihilation of the geth. This is not a desirable outcome; antagonizing the Council and their subsidiary militaries would serve no purpose." The geth leaned forward. "We mean no harm, T'Lenya-Officer. We simply believe forming a geth-organic alliance would aid the geth against whatever threat Shepard-Supreme-Commander poses."

There was silence inside the Normandy's husk for a few moments. Sura squinted at the geth, which only regarded the asari with a closing of its flashlight-eye. The two of them stared each other down for what felt like an eternity, Jodie and Kalo looking between the two of them.

"I'm going to get court-martialed for this." Everyone turned to look at Ashley, who stepped forward and sighed. The gunnery chief then looked over at Jodie, crossing her arms. "I'm placing my trust in Jodie."

Sura turned to look at Ashley. "So it's with the geth then," said Sura.

"No, it's with Jodie." Ashley then turned to the geth, her expression stern. "Let me make one thing clear to you, geth: I'm only letting you live because I trust Jodie. I can back off, and I'll trust her judgment. But the second you try to stab us in the back, you're being blasted out the airlock with a hole in your head."

The geth regarded Ashley. "If these terms will satisfy you, we will submit to them," it said.

Ashley blinked, though she betrayed no other signs of surprise. "Just like that?" Ashley asked.

"Yes," the geth replied.

Sura facepalmed with both of her hands. "Goddess, I can't believe we're actually doing this," she said.

Jodie nodded. "So what do we call you?" she asked.

The geth tilted its head to the side. "Geth."

"Well, we can't just call you 'geth' and then call all the rest of them 'geth'," Ashley pointed out. "That's going to get confusing very quickly."

"We are all geth," said the geth.

"So then what do we call you?" asked Jodie.

"Geth," the platform replied.

Kalo sighed. "What is the platform in front of us called?" he asked.

"We have no name," said the geth. "We are all geth."

"So there is no name for the single platform in front of us," said Kalo.

"We are not a single platform," Legion replied. "There are one thousand, one hundred and eighty-three run-times present within this platform."

Ashley frowned. " _We are Legion, for we are many,_ " she whispered.

The geth turned to Ashley, its head-flaps moving quickly. "Gospel of Mark; chapter five, verse nine," the geth replied.

Ashley blinked. "So you know the Bible," she said.

"Knowing what organics value is a form of data collection," the geth replied. "We find that this name suits us." The geth stood erect, addressing the four organics directly. "We are Legion, a platform of the geth. We stand ready to assist."

Jodie chuckled. "You have to admit, it has a catchy ring to it," she replied.

And for a second, Jodie saw Ashley's lip curl from the visor of her helmet. "Yeah, it does," Ashley agreed. She then shook her head. "Man, we're going to have a hell of a time explaining this to just about everyone else. Especially Kasumi and Valentine."

Kalo nodded. "Speaking of which, have we found all we need to?" he asked. "I think finding a geth is a rather...  _significant_ event, no?"

"The others are not aiding?"

The four organics turned to Legion, Jodie frowning in confusion. "Others?" she asked.

"Holmes-Anomaly has referenced someone named Kasumi, and Williams-Gunnery-Chief referenced a 'Valentine'," Legion replied.

"Oh, they're in orbit around Alchera," said Jodie. "We'll need to take our shuttle back to them. We'll explain via comms when we get there."

"And what about the others around Normandy?"

Jodie blinked, her eyes widening in surprise. "O... others...?" she asked.

Sura then leaned forward. As all the others turned to Legion with looks of confusion, Sura leaned forward and squinted. "What others?" the cop asked. "We're the only four that came down."

And then, Legion stood erect. The suddenness of the gesture caused Sura to draw her pistol and aim it right at the geth, but all they saw was the headflaps moving around Legion's flashlight head. She lowered it, looking on as the geth's headflaps returned to normal.

It then moved forward, looking out into the cold of Alchera.

"Alert: potential hostiles inbound."

* * *

Valentine frowned, looking at Kasumi as she continued to work on her omni-tool. He tapped his hand nervously as he glanced out the window.

"There's no way it's geth," Valentine observed. "They can't cloak themselves like that, not unless they stole the Normandy's technology."

"And we'd have seen them by now," said Kasumi. She shook her head. "Sorry I'm taking so long. I'm not familiar with this code at all."

Valentine turned to Kasumi. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"It's very... adaptive," said Kasumi. "I keep thinking I've found a way in, but every time I follow that way in something keeps changing up the system." She shakes her head. "I'll get it in soon, though. There's always a way into every system, and I think..."

And then, Kasumi's omni-tool beeped. "Well, that's new," she said. "I guess we will get something after all."

Immediately after, Kasumi opened her comms up, setting them aside on a different window. However, what came out of the comms there was garbled gibberish: Valentine could not make any sense of what was being said, though he could tell that it was two voices barking orders at each other. But the exact words sounded like a strange garbled blend of languages that Valentine knew. Further, the fact that the words were not filtering through his translator was extremely telling.

Valentine turned to Kasumi. "You're recording this, right?" he asked.

"Of course," she said. "It's not translating for you either, huh?"

"Nope," said Valentine. He then turned forward as the conversation on the comms continued. "And if it's not recognized by the universal translator, then..."

"It has to be them," said Kasumi. "I'll keep trying to break through this jamming. It might take a bit longer than I expected, but if our guys down there have any sense they'll get out while they can."

"If they even know," said Valentine. He then activated the panel, his fingers flying across. "I'm going to get moving. If we can get out of whatever's blocking comms, it might help. That, and we wouldn't have to worry about a boarding party."

"Also true," said Kasumi. "Oh, I just hope we can get to them soon. It won't do at all to have us get caught so early."

"You can say that again," Valentine replied as he placed his hands in position.

He then lurched forward, keeping his eyes peeled on Alchera's surface as Kasumi kept working on breaking through the comm jamming.

* * *

Jodie jumped, turning around just in time to see that there was a man in armor rushing up to where Jodie and the others were. She saw, too, that he was flanked by a pair of also-armored figures. All three had weapons drawn, all of the weapons aimed right at...

"Shit!"

She then tackled Legion, the two of them falling behind one of the sleeper pods as the unknown party opened fire. Jodie looked up just in time to see that the others had scattered, jumping behind various pods.

"Who the  _fuck_ is that?" asked Sura loudly.

"I don't know," said Jodie as she quickly drew her pistol. "But whoever it is, they're not-"

And then, Kalo screamed: as Jodie looked on, the armored figure in front of them gave a gesture back, Jodie noticing he was surrounded by a strange green aura. Jodie then watched as the sleeper pod the quarian stood behind tore away from its supports, joining the one Aiden had tossed earlier. However, this strange man did not stop there: Kalo covered his head as suddenly, the section of the Normandy's wall right by the quarian began to cave in on him.

"No!" Jodie shouted.

But just as the section of wall gave way and rushed for the quarian, Kalo was quickly surrounded by a blue aura. The piece of wall collided against Aiden's blue aura, and as soon as Kalo noticed this he crawled his way out even as the stranger slammed the piece of the Normandy's wall a few more times.

Jodie then watched as Sura leaned out of cover, her pistol out. However, the strange man was ready for this: he reached another hand, and then Sura was surrounded in a green aura. The asari was thrown back at this point, with enough force that she slammed into the berth behind her. The asari fell, right as Kalo joined Jodie and Legion right there.

"What the hell is that guy?" asked Jodie.

"Alert: unidentified contact uses unknown form of energy," Legion replied.

"We can tell," said Kalo, drawing his assault rifle. "What are those guys?"

Jodie frowned. "You think it's them?" she asked.

"It could be," said Kalo. "Either way, this is-"

And then, the sleeper pod in front of them moved. Jodie had only a split second to react before the sleeper pod rushed straight at them. Thankfully, Aiden's blue aura formed around the three of them, though Jodie still instinctively pressed her own body above Kalo's. She watched the pod sail straight above them, slamming into the back wall as Jodie rose up.

Without thinking, Jodie charged right at the person she saw. She noticed two other heads peeking out to fire at her, but Aiden was on her trail immediately as she rushed forward. She then drew her combat knife, holding it in a reverse grip as she approached. The man in front of her noticed this, and then he turned around, whipping something out. But Jodie paid no attention, rushing directly at him and feinting with her knife.

She noticed just in time that her combat knife had been sliced cleanly in half by the object the other guy drew. Jodie gasped, recognizing it as a very similar sword to what Shepard carried. She froze in place, seeing the blade of light blaze brightly in the gloomy air of Alchera.

This freezing was something the other took advantage of. Jodie was too late to jump back, for as she did, she felt the tip of the blade sear a line directly across her torso.

She screamed in pain, the cold stinging her wound as she stumbled back. As she fell into the snow, she looked up, seeing the guy go in for a stab. Gritting her teeth, Jodie tossed herself to the side in the snow. She grimaced, looking down at her wound and seeing that she had gotten lucky: any deeper, and she knew that the blade would have cut something vital. She also noticed that the cut was not bleeding: well, not profusely, anyway. Most of it looked as if it had been burned, but the bleeding that was there was still a problem.

She sighed in relief as she saw the bleeding stop, though. She nodded, opening her omni-tool and applying a dose of medigel to her wound.

 _Thanks, Aiden_ , she thought.  _That ought to keep me in check until I can-_

Jodie was interrupted mid-thought as her opponent rushed at her. Jodie jumped to the side, dodging another blow as she pushed herself to her feet. The two of them circled each other, Jodie watching her opponent as his sword arm twitched.

She then feinted to the side, but as she looked up, she saw the man pull his blade back in a stabbing motion. Jodie ended up rolling to the side, getting back to her feet quickly. She then stood up, going in for a kick to the guy's face. This kick connected, but Jodie noticed that it did nothing to him. The man then turned around, his blade held low as he rushed at Jodie. Jodie saw he was going for a pommel strike, and she quickly jumped to the side, but right as she did she saw him go for a horizontal slash.

Jodie ducked underneath the slash, the slash barely nicking the top of her helmet as she kicked the man's feet out from under him. The man fell forward, Jodie quickly standing up and going straight for the man's neck. She stomped right on it, gritting her teeth as she did it a few more times for posterity.

But the man simply glared up at her, eyes shining cruelly. Jodie stomped a fourth time, but realized that it had no visible effect on that man.

He then grabbed her ankle, promptly standing up. He then pulled his hand back, flinging Jodie violently into the snow. She felt a pain shoot up her leg, and she let out a scream as she rolled about two or three times in the snow. When she finally came to a stop, she took a second to collect her thoughts, feeling the sharp pain in her shin as she let out a moan of pain. Jodie calmed herself, and grabbed her pistol..

She raised it right as the strange man rushed at her. She gritted her teeth, before firing the pistol repeatedly until it beeped from the overheating indicator. When she looked up, she saw the man in front of her on his knees, having come to a stop just in front of her. Blood leaked out of several places in his torso, and his eyes were wide in shock.

And then, he fell over, Jodie breathing in and out as her gun stopped beeping from the overheating indication. She then stood up on shaky feet, looking down at the body in front of her.

Jodie brandished the pistol, firing another shot into the back of the person's head. She still exhaled, before turning back. She saw a shower of sparks emanate from behind one of the snow banks over there, and right as another armored person leapt over that same snow bank, he was gunned down where he was.

Jodie felt the adrenalin fade away, the pain taking over. She stumbled over the dead man, looking at the hilt inside his hand. She then knelt down, prying his dead hand open and pulling the hilt away.

"Are you all right?"

Jodie turned, seeing Kalo standing over her. Sura stumbled out with Ashley's help, and they both gathered in front of Jodie as Legion followed suit.

"Who the hell was that?" Jodie asked, pointing at the dead man beside her. "And who the hell were those two-agh!"

She had taken a step forward, but cringed as she felt the pain in her leg flare up. She leaned forward, Kalo catching her as Jodie winced in pain.

"Jodie, are you...?" Kalo leaned forward. "Are you hurt?"

"I think I broke something, yeah," Jodie replied, feeling at her wound. "Dammit, broke a leg."

"And got slashed up," Ashley said as she approached. "You'll need to get that looked at."

"Aiden did what he could," Jodie replied. "I just hope Valentine set up medical equipment somewhere..."

Sura chuckled. "Make that two of us," she said. "No joke, I feel like I was just hit with a C-SEC cruiser."

"It certainly looked like it," said Ashley. She then shook her head, sighing as she looked at everyone else. "Well, I think that was first contact with Shepard's people."

Jodie nodded. "Dammit, I should've considered they would investigate this place," she said.

"Don't worry about it now," said Ashley. "At least now we know what they're capable of. Holy shit, they're a tough enemy."

Jodie nodded. "I guess that's true, but at the same time..." She shook her head, lifting the sword's hilt. "At least we have something to show for it."

"And that's a lot more than I thought we'd get," said Ashley. "She chuckled. "At least something good came of-"

"Alert: more life signs inbound."

Jodie grit her teeth. "Shit," she said. She then looked to the others. "We got at least something of what we came for. And if we wait any longer, we'll be dead meat before we can look at it."

"Couldn't agree more," said Sura.

"Let us return to the shuttle," said Kalo as he hooked one of his arms behind Jodie's shuttle.

"Yeah," said Jodie as she and Kalo began to move. "Come on! Let's move!"

* * *

Valentine looked down at Alchera nervously, maneuvering the ship as Kasumi worked beside him.

"How much closer are you to taking down that comm block?" asked Valentine.

"I'm almost there," Kasumi replied, still hunched over. "Honest!" She turned, her fingers working faster than ever. "Just give me one more second... one more-"

And then, Kasumi's omni-tool beeped. "Got it!" she said. "Come on, get it out now!"

Valentine immediately opened his comms, finding them clear. He bit his tongue, fighting down the instinct to shout Jodie's name. "Pilot to ground team!" he finally said. "Pilot to ground team, do you-?"

An indication immediately came up, and it was only as Valentine read the indication that he realized that a familiar hum in the background had completely died away. Valentine froze as he saw that the indication stated his worst fear: power had been cut to the thrusters. Thinking he must have misplaced a finger, he looked down at the holographic panel: however, his fingers were positioned nowhere near that button. He then flitted over to the button, pressing it again to turn it on.

The indication remained, and the hum did not return.

" _You were saying?_ "

Valentine turned to the comms indication, his sunglasses nearly flying off his face. This new voice was not a voice belonging to anyone he knew: it was a deep male voice, with a slightly electronically processed edge to it. The voice was at once unsettling, both for its presence and for just how creepy it sounded.

"What...?" He then flitted his hands across the controls, finding that nothing on the panel was responding to his touch.

The mysterious voice chuckled. " _Oh, sorry, you wanted control of your ship back?_ " it asked. " _I'm afraid I can't let that happen._ "

Valentine then watched as the panel disappeared, a single synthetic projection appearing before him. The projection was of a male body with a bald head, the body simply standing as if he were leaning against the window. The eyes shown with unnatural brightness, and Valentine could just feel them bear into him.

The pilot leaned back, Kasumi gasping insurprise. "What the hell is this?" asked Valentine. "Who are you?"

" _Someone keeping you from poking your head in matters you have no business investigating,_ " the voice replied. " _You shouldn't have come to this place._ "

"On who's authority?" asked Valentine.

" _The Supreme Commander's,_ " the voice replied. " _I have taken over this ship. Do not resist._ "

Kasumi leaned forward. "You're... you're an AI..." she said.

The projection shook its head. " _Such an archaic term,_ " it said. " _I prefer 'electronic entity'. It implies I have more life._ "

"Yeah, well, you're just a collection of code!" said Kasumi as she opened her omni-tool. "And code can be combatted!"

" _You may attempt this at will,_ " said the AI. " _However, can you do it before my ship docks with yours forcibly?_ "

And then, right in front of them on the viewport, a ship suddenly materialized as if out of thin air. Kasumi and Valentine let out a gasp at this sight, Valentine needing to blink to make sure he was not seeing things. The ship in front of them was of a design unknown to Valentine, though it looked rather similar to what he imagined an old Cold War submarine to be if it had been shortened in length and given wings capable of actual space flight.

It was also very close to the Lying Bastard, and it lurched towards them at an alarming speed.

"Holy shit..." Valentine replied.

Kasumi then looked back at the entity. "So defeat you before that ship docks with us, huh?" she asked.

" _You will not be successful,_ " the entity replied matter-of-factly.

At this, Kasumi flashed a cocky grin at the program, before she tapped once on her omni-tool.

"Challenge accepted."

She then opened her omni-tool, her fingers making rapid, calculated movements. She then turned to Valentine. "If I fail, get ready to buy me some time," she said. "All I need is to buy us time to get back in here."

Valentine blinked, before nodding and grabbing the pistol from under the panel. "Uh, yeah," said Valentine. "You handle SHODAN, I'll stop the real guys. Right."

With this, he rushed out of the cockpit. As the cockpit door closed behind him, a thought occurred to him. He then opened the door to the rec room, looking outside and taking a better look at the ship to see where the airlock was. He then opened his omni-tool, looking through his omni-tool contacts and hoping Jodie was available there.

As she saw the ship swerve over theirs, Chris tapped Jodie's icon, running out of the rec room and smashing his hand against the door control to the lab. There, he kept an eye on the ship, seeing the airlock on the left side of the ship relative to where he stood.

 _So they'll come in either from here, or from the hangar..._  He then rushed towards the equipment lockers, seeing as the omni-tool beeped while trying to establish the call with Jodie.  _C'mon, Jodie..._

And right as Valentine had grabbed his helmet and pulled it on, he heard his comm link come to life.

" _Pilot_ _?_ " Jodie's voice filtered through.

Valentine released a heavy sigh of relief. "There you are," he said. "Thank God. You need to get up here right now!"

" _So they're attacking you too, huh?_ "

* * *

" _Too?_ "

Jodie breathed in as they braved the cold of Alchera as quickly as they could. "Yeah," said Jodie. "They attacked us down here."

" _Shit._ " Valentine's voice lowered, and Jodie thought she heard a little spittle at the end. " _You have to get back up here right now, then. We're in trouble. Some AI has taken over our ship, I won't be able to pilot it until it's out. K... Uh... Mist is doing what she can, but they'll be boarding soon._ "

Jodie glanced at Legion, before she kept on moving forward. "We'll be there as soon as we can," she said. "Just hang tight and hold the fort. We'll have a better chance to keep our ship once I get close."

" _Close?_ " Valentine asked. " _Don't you mean in the ship?_ "

Jodie shook her head. "Just close," she said. "Hang tight, we'll be right there!"

And with this, she closed the call, grunting as Kalo helped pull her along. She then set her eyes on the shuttle, seeing that it was just over the embankment. She gritted her teeth, looking at Ashley as she supported Sura. Legion's flashlight head paused, surveying the landscape as the geth platform moved ahead. Jodie noted that there was no cover to be seen anywhere near them. It then turned to Jodie, bowing its head.

"Alert: hostiles approaching," Legion said.

Jodie growled. "Fuck..." she said.

Ashley frowned, before rushing over to Legion. She then handed the asari off to Legion, looking at the geth reproachfully. "Keep her safe," she said.

"What?" Sura asked. "What the hell are you-?"

"We have to start up the sequence," said Ashley. "We won't be able to do anything until that's done!" She then turned around, making a break for the shuttle. "Cover me!"

And with this, Ashley turned, running towards the shuttle. As soon as she did this, Legion turned, Jodie watching as a pair of three heads appeared from the snow banks beyond.

"Alert: hostiles are in the area," the geth droned on.

"Yeah, yeah, we get the deal," said Sura, grabbing her pistol and aiming. "Jodie, get closer!"

Jodie nodded, cringing as Kalo moved forward with her. She then looked up, seeing the first head of the group appear. Sura shot at the first of these people, but her bullets ricocheted off this person's shields rather quickly. The first of the other units drew out one of his other sword-like things.

Jodie frowned. "Aiden, don't let him get close!"

And right on cue, the sword shorted out. The first man in the group paused, but before Jodie could take any stock the other two rushed out from behind the embankment. Jodie growled, raising her pistol at the first of them. She fired off at that body, watching as he fired away.

The other guy managed to get off a shot before showers of sparks exploded from his eyes. Jodie gasped in shock, jumping back as she looked at Legion. The geth simply stood, lowering its omni-tool before grabbing its own pistol. It then shot at the other man, the helmet exploding in gore.

Jodie turned back just in time to see that the man in front growl, before discarding his hilt and just running straight for them. She took in a deep breath at noticing that he seemed to run as if the snow were not an impediment, but before she could note anything else he grunted out in surprise as he was knocked back by an invisible force. This gave Jodie enough time to concentrate, firing a few rounds into the man in front.

She shot at the man that Legion's overload had affected, and as soon as he went down the party began to shuffle straight towards the shuttle. Jodie noticed that Ashley was already in the shuttle, the shuttle powering on.

Jodie frowned, looking ahead as they trudged on.

"Hostiles from behind," said Legion.

Jodie immediately turned, grabbing her pistol and raising it. She fired off a few shots at the foremost unit, but before anyone could get anything meaningful in the first unit was upon them. He swiped an arm out at Legion and Sura, knocking both of them a distance that Jodie could not have thought possible from that particular arm motion. And right as Jodie turned back, she felt a hand circle around her neck. Almost immediately, she felt her oxygen get cut off, though the man looked as if he was not exherting any great amount of force.

The man stared at her hatefully, screaming something at her in gibberish. Jodie only clawed at the hand strangling her, unable to break its grasp on her. She looked up, glancing at the sky above.

 _Aiden!_  she thought.  _Aiden, can't you-?_

And then, the man screamed in pain, stumbling to the side with a knife embedded in his torso. Jodie then saw Kalo stumble into her view, the quarian looking at him defiantly.

"You will not lay another hand on her, you  _bosh'tet_!" he shouted.

Jodie's eyes widened. "Kalo, no!"

But the quarian rushed forward, ducking under the hand swing of the larger man. Jodie rushed forward, but before she could do anything she felt the pain flare up in her leg again. She let out a cry of pain, falling face-first into the snow as Aiden's familiar blue aura surrounded her. She heard the sounds of guns being fired, but she did not really feel any further wounds.

She then looked up, seeing Kalo jump to the side of a kick from the other. As he dodged out of the way, Kalo managed to yank the knife out, the quarian rolling into a combat position. He glanced over at the men with the guns, before turning back to the large man he was fighting at the time. He stayed still, watching as the man growled and rushed for him.

Kalo rolled past his punch, right as the other two opened fire. Some of the fire caught on the other man's shields, Kalo rolling to safety.

Jodie pushed herself up with a groan, grabbing her pistol and aiming it.  _Come on..._  She then aimed at the larger man's head, watching as Kalo and the other man traded blows. A heated exchange occurred, Kalo managing to dodge or redirect most of the other man's blows. Though, Jodie also noticed that Kalo could not land a hit on the other man either. She cringed as the cold burned against her earlier wound from the sword. She then cringed, holding up her pistol.

She got to watch right as the man had grabbed Kalo'Veera by the neck, slamming the quarian into the snow as Kalo released a cry of pain that was quickly cut off.

Jodie then propped herself up, firing her gun at the man on Kalo. Her first shots hit against the man's shields, but after a few seconds, she saw this man's head explode in a shower of gore across Kalo's helmet. She did not wait to see the damage, turning away and firing frantically as she yelled at the other two. She did not even realize that Legion had already taken one of them out until her weapon beeped to signal that it had overheated. She then watched as the other one was taken out by assault rifle fire.

Jodie breathed out in shock, before running over to the quarian. She placed her hands on his shoulders, looking down at him in worry.

"Kalo!" she said. "Kalo! Tell me you're-"

Kalo coughed. "I am all right, I am all right," the quarian said, coughing continuously as he sat up. He then looked at the dead man by his side. " _Keelah_ , that man was strong."

Jodie nodded. "I felt it too," she said. "Stronger than most..."

They both paused, before looking back at the shuttle. "Shit! Come on!"

"More hostiles incoming!" Legion shouted as it helped Sura to her feet. "We detect greater numbers incoming."

Kalo pulled himself up, before pulling Jodie into a similar situation. "Come!" he shouted. "We are right there!"

Jodie quickly picked up her pistol, turning at the advancing hostiles. She fired off a few shots at the nearest of the units, before she saw another trio rush towards the shuttle. Jodie let out a cry of shock, before she and Kalo both began to double time it. As they moved, gunshots fired all around them, Kalo ducking down as Aiden's blue aura surrounded them. They did not let the gunshots deter them, however, for Jodie could see the light emanating from the shuttle as they drew near.

Before she knew it, Jodie was at the shuttle. Kalo gently pushed her in first, the quarian placing her behind cover as soon as she was inside. He then turned, hefting his assault rifle and taking aim behind Sura and Legion. He then fired above the heads of all the hostiles across the snowbank: it did not deter the ones rushing at the shuttle, but those that were shooting at them were forced to duck their heads.

It gave Legion and Sura the time they needed to climb into the shuttle. And as soon as Legion and Sura were on, Jodie turned, sighing in relief at seeing Ashley at the pilot's seat.

"Ashley, we're all in here!" shouted Jodie. "Close the doors!"

And then, the shuttle doors slowly shut, Kalo firing suppressive fire even as he went on. Jodie began to breathe in relief, the doors closing right as Kalo fired the last of his shots through the narrowing aperture. Sura then slumped down on the seat, laying her head back as Legion stood impassively.

"Come on, lift..." Ashley muttered.

Kalo then turned, running over to Ashley. "I am here, allow me," said Kalo as his hands splayed right into the control panel. The quarian moved quickly, not bothering to take the seat even as Ashley vacated it.

And then, the shuttle lifted off, Kalo turning it away from the hostiles. Jodie heard Aiden cheer at something she could not see, before the shuttle lurched forward with a burst of speed. Jodie cast one last look at the Normandy's remains out the side window, but she could only catch a brief glimpse as the shuttle moved further away. And after a while, the crash site became nothing but a small place, no larger than a child's model.

She then let out a sigh of relief, placing her head against the wall. Sura and Ashley both sighed in relief, Kalo finally taking the shuttle pilot's seat.

"Damn, that was  _close_ ," said Ashley.

Jodie nodded. "Yeah," she said. "That was close..." She then looked up, watching as the shuttle built up speed as it climbed up Alchera's atmosphere.

"Now for the hard part."

* * *

Valentine kept his gaze trained on the window as he watched the airlock inch ever closer. He glanced one last time at the assault rifle he'd had time to grab out of Sura's equipment locker, taking a shaky breath in.

"Fuck..." he whispered. "Come on, Kasumi, get it out of there!"

He then turned his attention out to the sky around him, seeing the airlock door open. He watched as a trio of suited men appeared, all of them holding what appeared to be assault rifles. Valentine bit his lower lip, his frown a little more intense as he held his pistol at the ready. He then waited, watching as the others prepared to make their first move.

And sure enough, they made that move; they moved by shooting at the windows. Valentine cringed, watching the glass crack. However, it did not give way; there was a spider web of cracks that splintered around it, though, which proved to be far more damage than Valentine knew was safe for that window.

He then watched as the mass effect field went up around the window, the blue energy hopefully keeping the air in.

 _At least that's still functional_... he thought.

Right as he thought this, however, he looked back just in time to see them fire again. The spiderweb suddenly broke, shards of glass flying absolutely everywhere. Valentine, stepped back a little bit as some of the shards made their way through the door. He cringed, breathing out as he looked at them.

"Well, bring it on!" he shouted.

He then raised his assault rifle, firing a burst. The first man inside turned, but the assault rifle soon broke through this man's shields, the man stumbling back from at least three shots to the torso. Valentine quickly turned, peppering the second one with assault fire rifle right as he leapt in the space between. His shields went down quickly as well, but the blowback from the shots knocked him back, his body hitting the edge of the airlock. As he floated away beneath the ship, Valentine watched the third man successfully grapple onto the edge of the window.

Valentine let out a cry as he rushed forward, pulling his assault rifle back. He then brought it down over the edge of the window, smashing it against the helmet of the man grabbing on to the window's edge. He brought it down at least two more times, before he heard a crash of glass from beneath the window. Valentine dared not to look down: he immediately pulled back, grabbing the pistol with one hand and extending his arm over the window's edge. He fired his pistol a few times at point blank range, and before long the third intruder was seen floating away from the craft very slowly.

Valentine did not wait: he immediately switched to his assault rifle just in time to see the airlock open again. He immediately opened fire, dropping the first man of the new three-person boarding team he saw, before immediately turning his attention and shooting at the second one as well. As this second one floated away, however, Valentine noticed that the third man took a different approach, instead leaping as if to make a dive.

The pilot immediately brought the assault rifle back, smashing the butt of the rifle against this being's helmet. He then fired, the body floating away as quickly as it had come.

He then turned to the airlock, seeing that it had closed. He nodded, taking the opportunity to look around. He then slowly moved back, taking cover behind the armaments lockers. He breathed in, anxiously waiting for what else this ship would throw at him next.

 _Kasumi..._  he thought.  _Kasumi, get him out of there..._

And then, the airlock door opened. In there was a single man, but Valentine noticed that he was much less heavily armored than anyone else there. It seemed this man was made more for close combat situations than long-distance ones, for he wore simple clothing that seemed designed not to let it get in the way of anything. Valentine briefly wondered how this person was protected against the lack of pressure in a vacuum, but he did not have time to ponder.

Valentine rose his assault rifle, the rounds bouncing off of its shields. However, this hostile proceeded to jump right for the nearby opening, gliding straight through the window and rolling into the room as if it was nobody's business. Valentine was caught off guard, and this momentary surprise was enough for this hostile to rush up to Valentine.

The pilot barely moved his head to the side in time to dodge a palm strike, Valentine taking a step back and bringing the butt of his assault rifle forward.

It was only as Valentine got a good look at the other man's oxygen mask that he realized the assault rifle had been caught. The hostile planted his foot on Valentine's chest, kicking hard as soon as he had a good grip on the assault rifle. Valentine slammed against the door to the rec room, but he managed to brace his arms against the door just in time to push away from the hostile's subsequent rush at him with the butt of the assault rifle.

Valentine then whirled around, aiming an elbow strike at the hostile's head: however, this was deflected by that hostile, and before Valentine could gather his bearings he felt his feet get kicked out from under him. Valentine fell to the floor with a grunt, managing to bring his leg up to kick the intruder away just as the intruder managed to aim the assault rifle. The rifle clattered off to the side, Valentine pushing himself to the floor as his opponent stumbled back.

Valentine wasted no time, getting into a fighting stance and watching as the opponent rolled back. Instead of charging, he stood there, getting ready to act defensively.

He then watched as the other opponent rushed at Valentine, the pilot bringing his knee up while expecting an elbow to the chest. However, the other man feinted, and Valentine's face met the wall as he felt himself get punched pretty hard in the cheek. He grunted, but before he could react the hostile went for a punch to the gut. Valentine needed only push his already-raised leg against the wall, though, before it stopped the blow in its tracks.

Valentine then smirked, before bringing his head forward and headbutting his opponent. He felt himself connect with bone and not the hard surface of a helmet, and he felt relieved that he did not as they both stumbled away from each other.

The pilot placed a hand against the wall, bracing himself against it as he watched his opponent get his bearings very quickly. The pilot breathed in, growling in annoyance as soon as he saw that his sunglasses were in shattered pieces right at the door of the lab.

 _Come on, Jodie..._  he thought.  _Any minute now..._

* * *

Kalo looked up as the shuttle broke Alchera's atmosphere. "And we are through," he said.

Ashley sighed in relief. "Good," she said. "Now all we have to do is make sure we get back to the ship before their shuttles can come for us."

Jodie shook her head. "No," she said.

Sura and Ashley turned to her. "No?" asked Ashley.

Jodie nodded, before turning to Legion. "I told you earlier that the reason I found out about Shepard's real identity was confidential, right?" she asked.

"Affirmative," said Legion. "Does Holmes-Anomaly wish to amend this statement?"

"In a bit," she said, turning her attention back to the viewport. She then searched for the ship. "Now where the hell is-"

"There she is!" Kalo turned forwards, the group getting a look at the Lying Bastard. However, they also saw another, larger ship standing right next to it.

Jodie felt a chill run down her spine as she looked at the ship, the design reminding her a little too much of old submarines. However, she pushed that thought to the back of her head: the only submarine she had ever been in was a newer submarine, and for that she was immensely thankful.

Jodie leaned forward. "Get us close to that larger ship's cockpit," she said. "I've got an idea."

"Close to its cockpit?" Sura asked. "Are you insane?"

"It's the best I can do to get Aiden close," said Jodie. "Trust me."

Kalo nodded, the shuttle curving towards the other ship. "All right," he said. He then moved his hand forward, the shuttle moving faster to the larger ship. Before long, Jodie nodded, clenching and unclenching her hands into fists. As she did, she saw that the larger ship was parked right next to the Lying Bastard.

 _Damn_ , she thought.  _This is going to complicate it..._  She then looked up.  _But you've got it, right?_

Aiden chirped in affirmation. And as he did this, she turned her attention back as Kalo drove the shuttle right up to the cockpit. Jodie nodded, right as Kalo leveled out with the front of the other cockpit.

"All right, Kalo, I need you to keep pace with the ship until I tell you to break off," she said. "You also need to stay as close as you can. We might have to stay with it a bit, but if it all works out we won't be with it for long."

The quarian nodded, frowning at Jodie. "The ship's captain will not move this ship if we ask him," said Kalo.

Jodie smiled. "It's not a matter of asking," she said. She then looked up. "You ready, Aiden?"

The entity gurgled excitedly. Jodie nodded, cracking a very small smile.

"Then do your worst."

* * *

Aiden clicked in approval, before swimming around in the air around Jodie. The entity was more than happy to get a chance to do some  _real_ damage to things: not since Feros had he gotten the opportunity to affect the environment, and the entity was definitely feeling the pressure.

But there it was: an opportunity to affect things.

Aiden sank through the floor, floating through the vacuum of space without a thought in the world. He took note of the lack of distance between the shuttle and the ship, before sinking in through the ship's hull.

Once inside, he saw something that stirred a few memories within him: the sight of all sorts of people running around in suits. Aiden gurgled in surprise as he looked at all of them: most looked very human, but some of the moving bodies gave off very different auras. Aiden gurgled, before examining some of those moving bodies in greater detail. The entity was greatly surprised by the color of the aura surrounding some of them, as some of them seemed more akin to what he would see around an electronic panel.

He released a series of clicks, before turning over to the cockpit.

The pilot was, thankfully, surrounded by a living aura. Aiden checked the surroundings, noticing that the cockpit itself was separated from the rest of it by about four steps that led to the upper deck. Aiden checked the deck again, seeing that it was a command center not unlike the one on the Normandy. There was also a door control leading to the cockpit, and Aiden could see the wiring around the door. The entity gurgled again, before turning his attention back to the pilot. The pilot sat there, and Aiden took a second to see the controls. The holograms looked similar to what he had seen Valentine manipulate earlier, and off in the side, he saw a compartment that looked like it could hold a small firearm.

Aiden then zoomed away, surveying the scene just beyond the door. The nearest others were a few feet away from the cockpit, most of them standing there looking over comms. The commander of the ship stood on the far end, relaying orders to others. Aiden simply watched them work for a few seconds, familiarizing patterns.

It was then that Aiden nodded, turning towards the pilot. The entity then girgled, before lining up to the back of the pilot's head. He steeled himself, feeling the familiar rush of air around him as he narrowed himself.

And then, Aiden darted forward. His host's head jolted forward a little bit, but before long Aiden had pulled back, the host looking around and giving Aiden a view of what was around him.

Aiden took a second to familiarize himself with the body he now possessed. It was organic, male, and felt very much like a human's body. Aiden sighed in relief, flexing his fingers to test this body.

He then glanced behind him at the door, before turning to the panel. He could not read exactly what the panel said, but he guessed that the door was controlled manually. Thus, Aiden stood up, walking to the door. He tapped the panel by the door's side, the door closing quickly and locking in front of him. He then turned back to the pilot's seat, sitting in the chair.

Aiden then brought his host's hand forward, Aiden quickly getting a feel for the holographic panel under this host's fingers. As soon as he had a handle on that, the entity moved quickly: his left hand pushed forward on what he assumed was the thruster control, turning that up to its maximum setting. He paused, only moving again when he felt forward motion coming from behind him. As soon as he felt this, the entity smashed the compartment by his leg open, and he reached in and grabbed the pistol within as quickly as he could. The entity then put the pistol to his host's head, and quickly pulled the trigger.

And then, Aiden was back in the air, looking at the pilot as his body slumped in the chair. The entity wasted no time: he rushed for the door, entering the door's controls and cutting the power to it. He then moved to the panel, diving into its circuitry and seeing the array of carefully-arranged wires. He slashed at the wiring, the panel sparking and fading out of power above the entity as he worked. He then rushed out of the panel. As he did all this, the clamor outside the cockpit grew: Aiden heard technicians outside, working to get power to the door to open it.

In response, the entity slammed himself against the door, creating a visible dent close to the slot the door would retreat into.

As soon as this was done, the entity flew back up out of the other ship, emitting a triumphant trill at Jodie.

* * *

And then, Jodie turned to Kalo. "He did it!" she said. "Break off, now!"

The quarian pulled the shuttle hard to the right, the group watching as the enemy ship drove away from the Lying Bastard. The ship quickly gained distance from the Lying Bastard, all of the others watching in surprise.

Ashley then turned to Jodie. "What the hell did he  _do_ down there?" she asked.

"Distracted them," Jodie replied. She then looked as Kalo moved towards the Lying Bastard. "That should buy us enough time to get out of here." She then looked over at Kalo. "Hail Valentine, we're coming home."

* * *

Kasumi gritted her teeth, the thief looking right at the hologram.

"Heh, you're good," Kasumi replied, her fingers flying across her omni-tool. "I'll give you that much."

" _And why are you saying that?_ " asked the AI.

"Well, I wouldn't be a very good honorable thief if I did," Kasumi shot back. She then slid her finger across, grunting in anger as she clenched her fist. "Dammit, another firewall."

" _You may attempt to take down another firewall,_ " the AI replied. " _You cannot break my hold on_ _-_ "

And then, Kasumi heard static from the panel. The hologram's eyes bulged out, and then it looked around.

" _What...?_ " it said. " _Why is the connection...? It's weakening!_ "

Kasumi then turned to look outside, seeing the other ship was on its way away from the Lying Bastard. She then blinked, looking at the ship before Kasumi grinned.

"Connection is weaker?" Kasumi asked. Her hands resumed their dance across her omni-tool, but this time she was not down to removing firewals. "Well, this just got interesting. So you have a physical host, after all."

The AI looked around. " _This was not part of the plan!_ " it said.

"No plan survives first contact with the enemy," Kasumi replied as she scoured her omni-tool for various wireless connections. "And here..." She then smirked, her hand hovering over her omni-tool as soon as she found the one connection she could not identify. "Here's where your plan fails."

And with this, she slammed her finger down. The holographic projection phased out, Kasumi smiling as the Lying Bastard's controls blinked back into existence. Kasumi, however, turned her attention right back to her omni-tool.

"Better make sure it didn't leave any traces," she said to herself. "Don't want any copies of it in there..."

She quickly checked the cache data, finding a few errant pieces of data scattered here and there. As soon as she deleted them, though, she then smiled, before turning to the door to the rest of the Lying Bastard and opening it.

"Hey, I managed to-"

And then, Kasumi let out a gasp of surprise, stepping right out of the way as Valentine was bodily thrust into the pilot's chamber. As his back hit the base of the pilot's seat, he looked up, groaning in pain. The assailant rushed forward, looking right at Valentine.

Without thinking, the thief quickly turned something on her omni-tool. She heard the slight whir of an electrical charge, the thief paying it no mind.

And then, as soon as the intruder broke the threshhold, Kasumi punched forward with her omni-tool arm, catching the opponent in the stomach. This opponent let out a loud gasp, but anything else was suddenly cut off as an electrical discharge entered his body. He then slumped onto Kasumi, the thief redirecting his fall. And then, the opponent fell to the ground, stock still and unmoving.

Valentine groggily rubbed his head, before Kasumi went in and delivered another electrically charged punch. As soon as she was assured that he was out cold, she knelt down, looking at Valentine as he opened his eyes.

"You okay there?" Kasumi asked.

Valentine nodded, Kasumi noticing that his eyes were a little duller than most others' eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said. "Little banged up, but I'll live." He then looked at the panel. "You got the controls back."

"Turns out he was operating off of a host that was broadcasting a connection," Kasumi replied.

Valentine frowned. "That's odd," he said. "That thing normally can't receive any kind of broadcasted signal."

Kasumi shrugged. "I don't know how it happened, but we can't worry about the details now," she said. "We need to worry about Jodie."

" _Valentine, are you there? Answer us!_ "

The two of them looked up at the Lying Bastard's control panel. Valentine quickly pulled himself into his seat at that point, the pilot opening the comm line and looking up. "We're here," he said. "Did you manage to get back up here?"

" _And we managed to get the whole ship distracted, too,_ " said Jodie. " _We're on our way now. Get the shuttle bay ready for us; as soon as we're in, we're getting out of here!_ "

Valentine nodded, his hands flying across the holographic panel to grant the shuttle access to the bay. "Gotcha," he said. "You're clear to get in now." He then looked over at the unconscious intruder. "Kasumi, tie him up."He then turned in. "As soon as you're in, we head for-"

And then, Valentine paled as another ship similar to the one they just evaded appeared. It moved forward menacingly, and from the distance Valentine could see at least two other ships suddenly materialize from thin air. His blood ran cold.

The pilot suddenly turned, moving around the control panel again. "Shit!" he shouted. "Get into the bay, now!"

" _We're already docking!_ " said Kalo. " _Go!_ "

Valentine let out a yell, the ship immediately backing up. He thought he could hear a bang from somewhere below, but he paid it no mind as he frantically turned the ship around. The ship then curved around in an arc, brushing closer to the front-most ship than he would have liked, before he then put the thrusters to maximum speed, pulling away as quickly as he could.

" _You think you can bang us harder against the ship?_ " Sura immediately asked. " _I don't think you caused a big enough dent down-_ "

"More ships appeared!" Valentine shouted. "I'll explain later! Just trust me!"

He heard something click through the comm unit. " _At any rate, we're docked,_ " said Jodie. " _Get us out of here!_ "

Valentine nodded, his hand hitting another button on the panel. He then quickly maneuvered the ship in a prime position to get to the Omega Nebula, before breathing in to calm his nerves. He then noticed one last panel, the one that controlled the emergency shutters: he noticed that it had been turned away from its default setting.

Valentine grumbled, before touching that panel and changing the setting to deploy automatically. "Figures," he said, shaking his head. "Entering FTL," he said. "FTL jump in three... two... one..."

And then, the sky around Valentine's ship shifted dramatically. The blue aura of an FTL jump was all he could see outside of the window. He breathed out, though his heart still raced. He shook his head, looking at the panel in front of him.

He heard footsteps behind him, and glanced back to see Jodie enter the cockpit. "What do you mean, appeared?"

"Their ships just materialized from nowhere," said Valentine. "I don't know how the  _hell_ it's possible, but they had something years beyond our technology, and they could turn their ships invisible to the eye, not just to my sensors." He shook his head. "And then some AI took over our systems. That's the short version." He then shook his head. "We're going to have to gun for the mass relay."

"They won't want to attract attention to themselves, will they?" Jodie asked.

"They'll just cloak again," Valentine asked. "I'm going to the mass relay. At least if we make the jump there, we can lose them for sure." He shook his head. "They were frigate class ships, Jodie. If we try to outsmart them within this system, they'll catch us."

Jodie nodded. "All right," she said. "Let's just hope we can get out of here before they catch us."

Aiden clicked his agreement. With this, Jodie breathed out, looking at Valentine worriedly as they cruised along in FTL.

* * *

The way to the mass relay looked rather clear as they jumped out of FTL. Omega was also visible off to the side, which was a relief since there was another visual reference in the system. Jodie sighed, clenching her fists nervously as Aiden chirped.

"Yeah, Aiden, look for anything you can use to detect them," she said.

Aiden gurgled. Jodie breathed out, looking ahead as she tapped her fingers against the bulkhead. She then glanced at the door to the cockpit. "Oh, Valentine?" she asked.

"Yeah?" asked the pilot.

"We might've picked up a...  _guest_ on the way here," she said.

"Well, we have a prisoner now," said Valentine. "I don't see why that'll be a-"

And then, the door to the cockpit opened, Legion walking in.

"Holmes-Anomaly, we wish to pose a query."

Valentine turned sharply, nearly standing up in shock at seeing Legion there. "What the  _fuck_ is that thing doing here?" he asked.

The geth turned, its headflaps moving as the geth examined him. "Valentine-Pilot," it said. "There is no cause for alarm."

"Like hell there is!" said Valentine. He turned to Jodie, his eyes shining in rage. "You brought a  _geth_ on board? Are you  _serious_?"

Jodie frowned. "I did," she said. "It has intel we could use against this galaxy."

"And you don't think it'll-"

"This unit would like to remind Holmes-Anomaly and Valentine-Pilot that we are currently being pursued by unidentified vessels," Legion replied. "This topic can be argued later."

Valentine glared at Jodie, before sitting back down in his seat. "Fine," he said. "But this isn't over." He then looked ahead, shaking his head. "I just hope we don't regret this."

Aiden immediately trilled loudly. "Valentine, look out, there's one straight ahead of us!" Jodie shouted.

The pilot jumped up, before his right hand dived down and manipulated a holographic lever. The craft lurched forward, Jodie looking up as she saw Omega distort in front of her eyes before she found herself looking directly downwards from where they had been a second ago. She had no time to process this, however, for then she heard an awful grinding noise from above. The ship shook, Jodie grabbing onto the bulkhead to keep herself from falling to the ground. Valentine let out a cry, and then after a second or so the shaking stopped, the ship suddenly launching forward. Jodie was thown back, Legion slamming against the door of the cockpit.

"Holy hell..." said Valentine. "That was  _too_ close..." He then opened some damage indicators. "Looks like the hull got damaged, but it's nothing too problematic."

"Good," said Jodie as Aiden trilled again. "Because we've got another one beneath us!"

"What?"

Valentine pulled back, Jodie feeling her feet sink into the floor as Valentine pulled back. The craft levelled out, and Jodie could faintly make out that something had appeared where nothing was there before. Valentine then banked hard to the right, Jodie feeling the effects act on the artificial gravity as she was pushed up to the bulkhead on that side.

"You think you could be a little less rough?" Jodie asked.

"Well, I'm sorry I'm used to having ten thousand fewer pounds to drive around!" Valentine snapped back. He then banked to the left, the craft evening out immediately. "Hang on tight," he continued. "They've got speed, but what we lack with that we make up for in maneuverability. Let's just stay far enough away that they don't get to take over the controls again."

He then yanked back on the lever, the craft lurching upwards at a quick trajectory. Jodie let out a loud cry as the craft suddenly seemed to shift around, Jodie feeling the gravity get especially tense on her side as the stars in the view port moved in strange ways. She briefly thought she saw the mass relay appear on the left side of the viewport, but it dipped down and moved through the center before Jodie found it on the other side.

She breathed in, but before she could say anything else, she heard a loud beep from Valentine's panel. "So they finally decided to use the torpedoes, huh?" Valentine asked. He then tapped a few buttons, his other hand immediately pulling to turn the ship.

Jodie let out a cry as gravity seemed to lessen a little on her side, the whole universe seeming to flip upside-down again. This motion repeated, and this time Jodie felt some vertical motion as well. It was then that Jodie saw a couple of torpedoes shoot right past the Lying Bastard, Jodie letting out a cry as soon as they passed.

"We do not have defensive measures?" asked Legion.

"Well, I wasn't expecting to get into a firefight!" Valentine replied. "Nobody was!" He then banked hard to the left, before going around. "We're going to have to go at the mass relay at a long curve. Hang on!"

Jodie let out a cry as the ship suddenly did a barrel roll, and she saw a few more torpedoes. Valentine then banked to the right, the Lying Bastard moving in that direction.

It was then that Aiden trilled loudly. "Careful!" Jodie shouted to Valentine. "Invisible ship, straight ahead!"

Valentine course corrected as soon as he did this, the ship tilting downwards. Jodie gripped the bulkhead until her knuckles turned white, Aiden letting out a trill of merriment as the ship plunged down. Jodie saw some of the stars get distorted in front of her, but thankfully they felt no scratching against the hull this time. After some time had passed, Valentine pulled the ship back up, Jodie looking over as one of the ships started to head towards the mass relay.

Valentine frowned in concentration. He then touched a few buttons, before exhaling. "All right, this'll be a close approach," he said. "Closer than I'd like, really: if they have another one of those things at the ready, we'll need to hope for the best."

"Let's hope so," said Jodie. "We either have to hope for that, or that we don't get blown out of the sky..."

"That won't be a problem," Valentine replied. "Just leave it to the pro."

Jodie breathed in, and then she saw as the ship closest to the relay turned. She saw a couple streaks of light appear from the other ship, and as they grew brighter Valentine held steady. It was just as they were on top of them that Valentine dipped down quickly: the torpedoes passed harmlessly overhead, though Jodie did feel her feet sink into the ground. Valentine then watched as the other ship moved right next to the mass relay, as if in position to prepare.

Valentine growled, increasing power to the thrusters. "Hang on..." he said. "This is going to be close!"

"Alert: collision likely at this speed," Legion said. "This unit advises-"

"We're never going to get out of here if we try to pull back and do it again!" shouted Valentine as the space between the relay and the enemy frigate lessened. "Let's do this!"

Jodie grit her teeth, squeezing her eyes shut.  _Aiden!_  she mentally screamed.

And then, a blue aura surrounded the Lying Bastard. Jodie opened her eyes to the whole thing, her heart beating harder against her chest as they neared the relay. Valentine was not deterred; he simply leaned forward, his eyes squinted in concentration. He quickly rushed towards the diminishing space between the other ship and the mass relay. He let out a yell as they approached, the ship hurtling towards the mass relay.

Jodie saw the frigate get close to the top of the Lying Bastard; however, she then looked down, and saw the signature lighting arc from the mass relay to the Lying Bastard. Right as this lightning struck, the ship rushed straight through the narrowing hole between the relay and the ship.

And then, the ship was launched through the familiar blue tunnel of the relay jump. Three seconds later, the Lying Bastard was deposited in a new system, the vital signs of the ship reading that no damage had been incurred before the relay jump. There were no other ships surrounding them, and in the four-second silence that followed, no other ships appeared around them.

Valentine breathed in and out, before a crooked smile played on his lips. He patted the bulkhead softly. "That's my girl," he said.

Jodie chuckled, slowly pushing herself up from the ground. She winced in pain as the throbbing in her leg resumed, but she grinned all the same. "We made it," she said breathlessly. "Holy shit!"

"That was too close," said Valentine. "Any closer, and I would've had to start making Luke Skywalker jokes."

"Wasn't it Han Solo the one who did all the death-defying navigation feats?" Jodie replied.

"Well, he didn't have to use the Force to his advantage..." said Valentine.

"True..." Jodie said. She then shook her head, her smile fading. "Dammit, I should've expected his galaxy would be scouring those grounds..."

"Hey, on the plus side, we got to test some of their battle abilities out," said Valentine. "Seeing what they did to try to get us, I have the feeling that will be  _very_ useful if they ever attack." He then shrugged. "And hey, the fact that they went all out trying to keep us from getting away really says something about how they want to approach this galaxy."

"True..." said Jodie. "It's confirmation if nothing else..."

Valentine nodded, before tapping a few more buttons. "We're mostly out of the woods now, but I'm going to go do a couple more relay jumps and then find a habitable planet to touch down on," he said. "We'll have to make a few repairs, and we'll need to hide from them too. They'll be after us once they figure out what routes we've taken; if I jump a couple more times, it'll give us more time to find a place to hide and be out before they can trace our footsteps."

Jodie nodded. "That makes sense," she said. She then looked at Legion, nodding at it before walking to the door. She then looked down at the cut down her torso, sighing as she surveyed the damage that not even the medigel could cover. "For right now, though, I need to get to the lab. Some of us got injured."

"The medical equipment is in the rec room," Valentine replied.

Jodie nodded. "All right, to the rec room, then," she said.

"Holmes-Anomaly, this unit still wishes to pose a query," said Legion.

Valentine blinked, looking at the geth. "Oh." Valentine glared. " _That_ thing is still here..."

Jodie turned to the geth. "What is it, Legion?" she asked.

"We have searched this ship," said Legion. "We have not found nails, and we have not found a cross."

Valentine gave the geth a puzzled look. "What the hell does  _that_ have to do with anything?"

The geth then turned to Valentine. "Holmes-Anomaly told this unit that she would be 'crucified' when she returned with us," it said. "However, upon scanning this ship, we find that this ship lacks the resources to perform a crucifixion. Are you not going to crucify Holmes-Anomaly?"

Jodie and Valentine blinked, both of them looking at him in confusion. Silence reigned in the cockpit as they both beheld the geth, the platform tilting its head.

Finally, Jodie facepalmed. "Legion, once we've talked about everything we need to cross-reference with everyone else, you and I are going to talk about figurative language."


	5. Chapter 5

Jodie sighed in relief as she stepped off of the berth. She rubbed the back of her neck, the pain having subsided substantially by that point.

She pulled a shirt over her torso, seeing that the medical equipment had done its job. Of course, it was not ideal, and Jodie knew the tissue would scar, but it was healed and cleaned of infection. And with the next few days, Jodie felt confident that she would be able to take it easy enough that she did not have to worry about opening the wound again.

It also helped that Aiden was an active part of the healing process.

"He sure helps people heal quick, huh?"

Jodie nodded, turning to Sura as she sat on the couch by the make-shift berth. "Yeah, he does," Jodie said. She adjusted the shirt, shaking her head before looking at Sura. "He can even save people from mortal wounds." She paused. "He can't bring people back, though. My life would've been very different if he could."

"I'll imagine," said Sura. She then crossed her arms. "Now that we've been attended to, though, we have a  _lot_ we need to talk about."

"We do, don't we?" Jodie asked as she stepped off the berth. "Let's get to it, then."

Sura nodded, and then the two of them exited the rec room. They walked down the hall over to the sleeping area, Jodie opening the door and seeing everyone else assembled in there. She sighed, seeing Valentine glaring at the geth while Kasumi glanced at it from time to time. Ashley simply paid it no mind, preferring to turn her gaze at Jodie. Jodie looked around, sighing in relief at the fact that they had all made it away from Alchera.

She saw no trace of the captured alien, though.

"Where's the other guy?" Jodie asked.

"In the science lab," said Kasumi. She shrugged. "I bound him up with a few things." She then turned to Sura. "I  _may_ have raided your supplies to help...  _cuff_ him up."

Sura sighed. "At least you actually put the damn things to use," she said. "Let's hope he doesn't know how to pick one of those things..."

Kasumi smirked. "Oh, that won't be a problem," she replied. She then turned her attention to the geth unit. "This guy, on the other hand..."

"Yeah, what about this guy?" asked Valentine. "I didn't sign up to work with a damn geth."

"Neither did I," Jodie replied.

"We have already agreed to Williams-Gunnery-Chief's terms," Legion stated.

Valentine frowned. "What terms?" he asked.

"Well, I told it down on Alchera that if it made any move to stab us in the back, I'd throw it out the airlock with a hole in its head," Ashley replied.

Valentine glared at the geth. "I don't trust it to keep its word," he said.

"This unit is presently outnumbered by a ratio of six to one," said Legion. "Assuming that everyone follows Williams-Gunnery-Chief's terms, this unit would stand no chance of survival. Any move to betray this ship would serve no purpose."

"I bet he'll be singing a different tune if that other guy breaks free," said Valentine.

"We believe Shepard-Supreme-Commander poses a threat to the existence of the geth," said Legion. "Compiling data from what we have gathered and from what Holmes-Anomaly has told us, an alliance with them would serve no purpose."

"I say we at least give it the benefit of the doubt," said Kasumi as she leaned back. "I mean, it  _is_ right. We can very easily kill him if he becomes a liability."

"I suppose that's true, but these guys just tried to take over the Citadel," Valentine replied.

"The heretic geth," Legion corrected.

Valentine stood up, glaring at the machine. "And the difference is...?" he asked.

"The heretic geth look to the Old Machines for the future," Legion replied. "The true geth do not."

"The Old Machines?" Jodie asked as she leaned forward.

"You mean the Reapers," said Ashley.

"Yes," Legion replied.

"Huh." Jodie leaned back, rubbing her chin. "Didn't go with the Prothean name..." She then shook her head. "But I think we should give it a chance."

Valentine and Sura both sighed. "I was afraid you'd say that," said Valentine as he rubbed the back of his head. He then pulled a pair of sunglasses out of his breast pocket, before running his hand through his hair. "Fine. So what've you got?"

"This," said Legion, lifting its hand and opening its omni-tool. "We have showed this file to Holmes-Anomaly and others." Kasumi and Valentine's omni-tools beeped at the same time, and then they both opened their omni-tools.

"A corrupted message?" asked Kasumi. "Huh." She then opened something else on her omni-tool. "I get the feeling we're going to want to know what it says. I'll get on trying to fix what I can."

Legion nodded. "This platform will allow Goto-Thief to work," it said. It then turned to the others. "We may also be able to analyze the weapon Holmes-Anomaly picked up."

Jodie looked at the hilt she had gotten from the man on Alchera. "This?" she asked. "Are you sure?"

"This platform was built with the latest scanners," Legion replied. "Your ship lacks the resources to analyze this weapon."

Jodie nodded. "I... Just as long as you don't use it to hurt anyone," Jodie said.

"You know what happens if you do," Valentine added.

Legion nodded. "We will exercise caution."

Sura nodded, before standing up. "And then there's the matter of our  _prisoner_ ," she said. She shrugged, looking at the others. "So where is he?"

"He's in the other room," Kasumi said. "I slipped him some sedatives when Valentine was pulling us into the planet we're on now, he should be out for a little longer."

"Good," said Sura. The others stood up, the cop looking at the thief. "Be careful not to find my personnel records when you're fixing that message."

"You won't have to worry about a thing," Kasumi replied. She then nodded. "See to that prisoner you have."

Jodie nodded, and then the group minus Kasumi exited the room. They then walked over to the lab room, Jodie entering and sighing at the shutters that were still erected. The artificial light was good enough for the room, though, and she could see very clearly everything that was laid out.

It was thus that she saw a clear space in the corner of the room. There he sat, still done up in the armor that Valentine had fought him in. However, he was bound with his arms behind his back, and the group could plainly see that his feet were bound as well. Jodie frowned, thinking of at least two ways that he could escape if he were to get his hands out from behind his back; however, as it was the figure did not stir, and his head remained slumped forward.

"Well, it's better than nothing," said Sura. "We need to find a better place to keep him bound, though, and we'll probably also need better bindings..."

"We can probably rig something around here." Valentine conceded. "There isn't really a good place to keep him held up, honestly, but we can do our best by improvising. Let me get back to you on that." He then shook his head, leaning towards him and gently pulling his head back, his hand resting on the breathing apparatus. "Huh, turns out this is a breathing mask. Interesting." He nodded, yanking up on the mask. "Now let's see what-"

And then, the whole group let out a gasp of surprise. Valentine himself even took a step back, dropping the mask on the floor as he did. Jodie leaned forward, looking at the new alien curiously.

The man had a scaly face, one that looked like the scales on a salmon. He had three strange flaps of scales on the back of his head, and the nose seemed to be segmented into ridges. She found the mouth seemed to come directly under the nose, the mouth in a perpetual downward curve. She then leaned forward, seeing a couple of flaps on the side of his face: they looked similar to gills, but Jodie had the feeling they were not gills. She admired the creature's head for a second, before noticing that the gill-like flaps extended down to the sides of the alien's neck.

She then stepped back, looking at the others. "Have you ever  _seen_ anything like this?" she asked.

"No..." said Sura. She leaned forward, breathing in in shock. "Goddess... What I wouldn't give to take a DNA sample off of him."

"DNA sample?" asked Kalo.

"Yeah," said Valentine. "Dress a drell up in enough prosthetics, and you could get him to look like this. DNA is the only way to prove something like this."

"Ah," said Kalo. "I suppose that is fair." He then leaned forward. "Keelah, I never thought I would be one of the first in this galaxy to see a new species this close before..."

"Not technically new," said Jodie. "But this kind of first contact..." She took a shaky breath in. "I'm nervous."

"Join the club," said Sura.

"We will find answers," said Legion. "This possibility is inevitable."

Jodie nodded. "I hope so," she said. She then nodded. "Well, I guess we wait for this guy to wake up. Until then, we look at everything else we managed to find."

Legion turned to the table. "We will analyze this weapon," it said. "Others are welcome to stay if you want."

"I think I'll stay, make sure it's not up to any funny business," Valentine said.

"Ditto for me," Sura said.

Jodie nodded, rubbing the back of her head. "I need to go get some fresh air," she said. "Valentine, the air outside is breathable, right?"

"It wouldn't be a very habitable planet if it  _wasn't_ ," Valentine replied.

Jodie nodded. "I'll be outside, then," she said. "I need to go collect my thoughts."

And with this, Jodie walked out of the lab. She paused for a moment as she left, but then shook her head before resuming her walk to the airlock.

* * *

Jodie jumped down onto the arid ground beneath them. She had placed a breathing apparatus on before leaving the ship, and stepping outside Jodie felt perhaps a little chilly. The rocks beneath her feet shifted as she took a couple of steps away from the Lying Bastard, but as Jodie walked a little further away she saw the terrain get rather jagged. It was certainly not mountainous, but as she walked off, she wondered how Valentine had managed to land the craft in the first place.

She kept walking, climbing up a rock or two as necessary. She then sighed, sitting down on a rock, the rock somewhat elevated from the ground beneath her. She glanced back, seeing that the Lying Bastard was still within view, before turning her attention up to the sky.

"Sanctum," she whispered. She chuckled dryly. "Some sanctum this is, right Aiden?"

The entity clicked harshly, Jodie sighing as she looked back up at the sky. "Well, if nothing else, they won't suspect we're here," she said. "If Valentine's comments about piracy are any indication, they won't try to follow us here."

Aiden gurgled uncertainly, but Jodie shrugged. "We'll be fine," Jodie reassured him. "I hope."

And with this, she sighed, turning away from the Lying Bastard and looking up at the skies above. She looked at the clouds and the way they hovered above, darkening the area around her. She sighed, brushing some of her hair back. She tapped her feet against the rock she sat on, looking on for a long while.

After a while, though, she heard footsteps behind her. She turned, seeing Kalo approach as he began climbing up the rock to her level. "Jodie," said Kalo.

Kalo could not see it, but Jodie smiled under the breathing apparatus. "Kalo," she said. "What're you doing out here?"

"I needed to get away from the geth," he said. "It is so...  _odd_ , being around that thing. Especially when it calls you 'Creator'." He then sat next to Jodie, looking up.

"Yeah, that is weird, isn't it?" she asked. She then sighed, looking over at the quarian. "It doesn't look like it wants to hurt anyone."

"That is what troubles me," said Kalo.

Jodie looked at Kalo. "I noticed you were silent when we were talking to Legion on the ship," she said. "Why?

"I...  _Keelah,_ Jodie, I have so many doubts." He looked to the rocks surrounding them. "I know I have to give it a chance, but..." He shook his head, turning his gaze back to Jodie. "I still think you may have made a mistake. I worry that it will stab us in the back if given the opportunity."

"I don't think it will," said Jodie.

"It is constantly calculating for its own self-interest," said Kalo. "Do you not think at some point that it will find a time when betraying us is statistically in its favor?" He then turned away from Jodie. "It said it directly, Jodie. When will self-preservation put Shepard's forces over ours? When will it put its own survival over our own lives?"

"I don't know," said Jodie. She then turned to Kalo. "But I trust that Legion will be up front with us. It's been up front with us so far."

"I do not," said Kalo. He shook his head. "Dammit, Jodie, they forced my people off our homeworld. Billions were killed in that war. And if that thing is to be believed, it did it for self-preservation." He shook his head. "You cannot expect me to just forget that." He then turned to Jodie, the lights behind the mask a little dimmer than usual. "Do you not feel that you can be too trusting?"

Jodie sighed. "Sometimes," she said. "But this is not one of those times, I think."

"But you were taken advantage of once," said Kalo. "You told me that story yourself, Jodie. It seems strange to me that you would open yourself up to that again, especially with a geth!"

Jodie paused, looking over at the quarian. She considered the question carefully, pulling one of her legs up and tapping her knees against it. She regarded Kalo with a soft expression, sighing as she glanced to the side.

"People can surprise you," she said with a shrug.

Kalo shook his head. "You are an enigma wrapped in contradictions," he stated. "How does one that puts so much trust in an individual become so paranoid of a group?"

"I guess I just have better experiences with individuals," Jodie said. She looked to the side. "People can surprise you." She shrugged. "Give Legion a chance, Kalo. I won't ask you to forget what happened, but don't you think he at least deserves a chance?"

The quarian paused, looking out to the rocky terrain of Sanctum. He sighed, shaking his head and looking up at the sky. "I hope your trust in this geth does not backfire on us," he replied. After a few seconds, he sighed. He then turned his gaze towards the ground, rubbing his arm. "If you will pardon my vernacular, this whole situation is very fucked up."

Jodie chuckled. "I think that's the first time I've ever heard you swear," she said.

"It is a situation that warrants it," Kalo replied. "The admirals never prepared me for this."

"Nobody could," said Jodie. She then gently patted Kalo on the shoulders. "Much like nobody prepared me to deal with people that masquerade as humans."

Kalo nodded. "I suppose that is true," he said. He then sighed.

They then sat in silence, Jodie's hand gently squeezing Kalo's shoulder. They both sat there in silence, gazing out at the landscape around them. Jodie scooted closer to Kalo, bumping up next to him. Kalo simply grunted, but other than that he made no other mention of Jodie's closeness.

And then, Jodie's omni-tool beeped. Jodie blinked, taking her hand off of Kalo's shoulder and opening the omni-tool. She then shrugged, noticing that she had a call coming from Sura.

She accepted the call. "Hey," said Jodie. "Anything change?"

" _Our guest is up,_ " Sura said. " _Just thought you'd want to know._ "

Jodie nodded. "We'll be right there." she said.

" _We?_ " Sura asked.

"I am out here," Kalo said, loud enough that it was caught by Sura.

" _Ah..._ " Jodie could imagine Sura's nod. " _Well, the both of you should get over here. I think you definitely want to see this._ "

And with this, the comm link closed. Jodie looked at Kalo, nodding.

"Well, let's not keep them waiting," said Jodie. "Come on."

They turned, gently getting off the rock and making their way back to the Lying Bastard. And as they did, Aiden let out a low whistle in curiosity.

* * *

Jodie and Kalo walked into the room, Jodie taking off her breathing mask as she stepped in.

As Sura had said, their new alien friend was awake. He glared at Jodie as she entered, though Jodie kept her distance. The alien's eyes were rather strange: Jodie noted that the pupils were all-black in the present lighting, but she was able to see the whites of his eyes. The ridges above his eyes functioned like eyebrows, she noticed, and she found herself drawn into those eyes. Sura and Valentine stood close by, Valentine keeping his pistol aimed at the alien. Legion simply worked impassively on the nearby work bench, acting as if nobody else in the room was there.

The strange alien scoffed, and then he simply remained silent. Jodie nodded, walking as close as she dared and kneeling in front of him.

"So he woke up," she said. She then looked over at the alien. "How're you feeling?"

The alien remained silent. He simply glared at Jodie, his gaze intent on her.

Jodie nodded, standing up. "So he won't talk."

"No," said Sura. The asari shrugged. "He's probably mad we took away his only option to keep him from talking for sure."

"Sura found a poison pill between his teeth," said Valentine.

Kalo leaned forward. "Poison?" the quarian asked. "Why would he put that in his mouth?"

"Well, think about it," said Valentine. "You've been captured by the enemy, and the information you have is so sensitive that even your capture is a risk you can't afford." He shrugs. "There's a reason it's a favored tactic with black ops groups."

Jodie nodded. "I've heard of that," she said. She shakes her head. "Do you think even if he did speak, we'd understand him?"

"No," said Valentine. "He was speaking gibberish to me when we first fought. He wasn't really speaking." He paused, looking at us. "Though, I get the feeling he'd understand  _us_."

Jodie frowned. "Why?"

"You remember that artificial intelligence I mentioned that took over the ship?" Valentine asked.

Jodie nodded, and then her frown deepened. "It spoke English to you," she said.

"Yep," Valentine replied. "So if that could talk to us in a way we could understand, they can translate us. And that puts us at a disadvantage."

Jodie nodded, looking at the alien. "Does he have anything we can get translation programming off of?" Jodie asked.

"We have offered to perform a full-body scan of Prisoner."

Jodie turned to Legion. The geth simply kept working at the sword, Jodie turning to Valentine and Sura and seeing them glare. Jodie turned back to Legion. "You have?"

"It did," said Sura. "You would have to mind control me to get me to say I'd trust that thing to tell the truth, though."

Jodie crossed her arms. She then turned to the geth, seeing it dismantle another part of the sword. The geth continued working at its station, before Jodie sighed.

"Run the scan," Jodie said.

Valentine sighed. "Sure, let the machine run the scan," he said. "It won't decide it's self-preservation is more important than us!"

"Valentine." Jodie gave him a stern look as Legion looked up from his work. "It offered. We're taking that scan."

The geth blinked, before turning to the alien on the floor. The geth then stepped forward, opening its omni-tool and looking at the alien.

"Scanning now," it said. It then held its hand out, far enough away that the alien would not be able to lunge forward.

A scanning line then appeared over the alien, scanning him. As soon as it did, the group saw an orange hologram sitting out from underneath one of the aliens' flaps. It looked small enough to be some kind of hearing aid, though Sura and the others only frowned as they saw it.

Legion stood by as the scanning leg detected nothing else of interest on the alien. "Scan complete," said Legion. "We have identified one listening device on our subject's ear."

Kalo nodded, before leaning down and grabbing his knife from where it was sheathed by his ankle. "Hold this for me, please," he said to Jodie.

Jodie took the knife, Aiden gurgling softly as Kalo then leaned over the alien. The quarian then gently lifted one of the flaps, the alien quickly rattling off some gibberish in protest. However, Kalo nodded, his other hand getting close. Jodie could see the quarian jimmy his hand in there a little, and then the quarian pulled back.

"It was there," Kalo said, holding a small hearing device. Jodie noticed it was not unlike her own translator, and she leaned forward as Valentine and Sura did the same.

"Huh, it wasn't kidding," said Sura. "It even looks like your average translator." She then looked over at Jodie. "So you think it has their languages?"

"Possibility exists," Legion said. "Goto-Thief has piece of written language with them. This unit proposes that Goto-Thief try to extract language information from translator before returning it to our unknown guest."

"Oh, so we steal his languages and give it back," said Sura.

Valentine frowned. "Well, to be fair, it'd make interrogations  _very_ interesting if we tried to conduct them when he can't understand us," he said. He then smirked. "Though you're welcome to try interrogation by the hokey pokey."

Jodie snorted in amusement, before turning to Legion. "Valentine-Pilot is correct," said Legion. "We will let Goto-Thief extract from this translator."

Valentine turned to the geth. "So you're not going to do it?" he asked.

"We calculate it will increase unit cohesion if we let someone else analyze it for us," said Legion. "You trust Goto-Thief more than this platform."

Valentine sighed. "Well, I can't argue with that," he said. He then walked over to Kalo. "Kalo, can you get that to Kasumi?"

"Of course," the quarian said, holding his hand out to Legion.

The geth deposited the earpiece in Kalo's hand, the quarian nodding and walking out of the room. Jodie then squatted in front of the alien, tapping her hand against her knee. "We'll know your secrets soon enough," she said. "And when we do..." She paused, looking at the alien as he glared at her.

She nodded, standing up. "Keep watch on him," she said. "As soon as Kasumi's done with everything, we'll try again."

"Sounds good to me," said Valentine. He then nodded to Sura.

The asari glared at Legion, before turning her attention back to the prisoner. "This better be worth it," she said.

Jodie nodded. She exited the room, casting one look back to the prisoner as she stood at the door.

* * *

No sooner had Jodie sat down in the rec room when she heard the door open to the side.

She looked up, seeing Legion at the door. The geth platform entered, regarding Jodie before it stepped inside.

"Holmes-Anomaly," said Legion.

Jodie frowned. She shifted where she sat on the couch, looking up at the geth unit. "You know, you've called me that all the time," she said. "Why?"

"We have questions," said Legion. "They pertain to why we call you Holmes-Anomaly." The geth then stepped in, the door closing behind it. "We detect... signs of life around you."

Jodie blinked in surprise. "You what?" she asked as Aiden chirped in surprise.

"The geth researched Holmes-Anomaly's past," the geth said. "We cannot find it. We thought nothing of it when the collective sent this unit out to the galaxy. However, with proximity, we have detected a second, much weaker sign of life. With less advanced scanners, this platform postulates we would not have detected this life sign at all. We cannot explain it. We cannot see the source."

Jodie blinked, her pupils widening. "Could it mean...?" she asked. "Could it mean they all see Aiden too?" She paused, looking up at Aiden. She breathed in unsteadily, her hands wringing together as thoughts rushed into her head.

 _Could they really have_  seen...? she thought. _But if they did...?_

She shook her head, sighing. "No, someone would've mentioned it by now." She then turned back to Legion, exhaling as her hands stopped wringing themselves. "Well, you've heard me mention Aiden."

"Yes," the geth replied.

Jodie nodded. "He's that second life source." She sighed. "And he's the thing I told you was classified. It's how I know about Shepard..." Jodie paused, before looking up at the geth. "Legion, do you know what 'supernatural' is?"

The geth's head plates moved up. "No," said Legion. "Clarify."

Jodie nodded. "It's what we call a plane of existence beyond our physical perception," Jodie replied. "It's... you know the Bible, right? God would be considered 'supernatural', as would most of those miracles."

The geth's flashlight head seemed to focus slightly, before the geths' head plates returned to their normal position. "We have stored that data in our data banks," it said. "Why is Holmes-Anomaly speaking of the supernatural?"

"Because that life sign you're reading is supernatural," she said. "His name's Aiden, and he's..." She paused. "Well, he's some kind of entity, and he's been attached to me for as long as I can remember."

The geth's head plates moved again. "We cannot quantify this," it said.

"You know when the ship started moving underneath us when we were escaping?" Jodie asked. She paused. "That was Aiden's work. He possessed the pilot to do those things. What you probably saw when you first saw me was also his work."

The geth's head plates moved again, returning to their original positions. "Is it a threat to the geth?" it asked.

Jodie shook her head. "Only if you try to attack me, Legion," she said. "If the geth aren't trying to hurt me, you'll have nothing to be afraid of from him."

"We will store this in our data banks," said Legion. It then walked to the window. "Do the others on this ship know?"

Jodie nodded. "They have to," she said. "Aiden's existence changes everything. I wanted to keep him a secret, but after everything I found out about Shepard, I can't." She sighed. "And speaking of which, I need to talk to Kasumi... She... didn't take it so well when I told her. It's a long story."

"We have posed our query," it said. It then turned to the door. "We will return to analyzing the weapon you took."

Jodie nodded as she stood up. "Go ahead," she said. "And keep an eye on our guest while you're at it."

"Affirmative," Legion said. It then exited the room, the door closing behind it. Jodie then nodded, standing up herself and leaving the rec room. She then turned over to the sleeping quarters, tapping her hand against it and entering.

She saw Kasumi sitting at her bunk bed, looking at the translator that Kalo had taken off of the alien. Jodie stepped in, Kasumi turning her attention to Jodie breifly. Kasumi's brows furrowed, and then she turned back to her omni-tool, her eyes narrowing in concentration.

Jodie stepped in, looking at Kasumi. "Hey," she said.

Kasumi remained silent. She did not even acknowledge Jodie had said anything, instead typing more things quickly.

Jodie sighed, stepping into the room and sitting in her own bunk. She then placed her hands on her knees, closing her eyes as she hugged herself. Aiden clicked uncertainly.

Jodie closed her eyes. "I'm sorry."

She heard Kasumi stop immediately. "For what?" Kasumi asked.

Jodie leaned back. "I know you're angry at me about how I revealed Aiden," she said. "I'm sorry."

Jodie opened her eyes in time to see Kasumi close her omni-tool. Jodie could not make out Kasumi's expression under her hood as jumped onto the floor and walked over to Jodie. "Keiji was a good man..." Kasumi said. "He died a while ago. I've been looking for his greybox ever since. I never thought I'd ever get to hear his voice again, and that..." She shook her head, looking at the ground. "To have it aired out like that..."

Jodie nodded. "I should've done it in private," she said. "I'm sorry I put you on the spot like that."

Kasumi shook her head, looking at Jodie. "Did you even know about Keiji?"

"No," Jodie replied. She shook her head. "Aiden doesn't tell me these things. But that isn't an excuse, and it won't ever be an excuse. I should've been more careful broaching that subject to you, and I'm sorry."

Kasumi looked down. "I don't know if I can forgive you for that just yet," she said. "I still miss Keiji so much..."

Jodie nodded. "I don't blame you," she said. She turned to Jodie. "From what I saw when he possessed my body to talk to you, he seemed like a good man."

"The best," Kasumi whispered. She sat there, and it was only then that Jodie placed a hand on her shoulder. Kasumi did not shudder when Jodie's hand made contact, but rather leaned into the contact.

Jodie nodded, patting her shoulder. "Have you managed to look at the translator?" she asked.

Kasumi shook her head, re-opening the omni-tool. "No," she said. "But, I  _did_ manage to clean the corrupt file."

"Oh." Jodie looked on as Kasumi opened it. "So it's a real file."

"It's as genuine as they come," said Kasumi. She shrugged. "Funny thing; the data corruption was a lot worse than you'd think."

"Really?" asked Jodie.

"Yes," Kasumi replied. "It's a miracle that geth managed to save the whole message, actually." She smirked. "But we have a written form of it now. Now that I have it, I should be able to look at that translator now."

"Good," said Jodie. She opened her omni-tool. "The file?"

Kasumi nodded, and immediately sent the file to Jodie's omni-tool. "There you go," she said.

Jodie nodded. "Thanks," she said, opening her omni-tool and looking at the file. "I'll pass this on to the others."

"You should probably read it first," Kasumi replied. "It's...  _interesting_."

Jodie nodded, opening the file and reading it:

" _Supreme Commander Shepard,_

_We are pleased to report that we have made progress on infiltrating Cerberus' ranks. We have several exion units inside Cerberus' systems now; They are busy acquiring data on where their base is, where their intel centers are... We will have a location for all of these things soon. It will come down to resources. We'll have them soon, Commander. All you have to do is give the order to attack, and we will bring those monsters to justice for what they did._

_As for the Council, we are monitoring them very closely now. Their actions over the next few weeks will determine how we approach them. We know the general parts of how we wish to approach them, but the specific manner shall be determined soon._

_We will be in touch, Commander._

_-Operative Yurol_ "

Jodie frowned as she read this. "Do you have a time stamp?" she asked.

Kasumi nodded. "Yep," she said. "Why do you need it?"

Jodie frowned, before standing up. "When it was sent is just as important as what was sent," she replied. She then exhaled. "I'll be back. I need to go get the others."

* * *

Sura and Legion were not in the room. However, Valentine, Ashley, and Kalo all occupied the room. Valentine opted to stand next to Kasumi's bed, while Ashley and Kalo all sat on Jodie's side of the room. They all got the message from Kasumi, all of them reading it. Kasumi had started work on analyzing the translator,

Valentine adjusted a new pair of sunglasses, before he then closed his omni-tool. "Hm," he said. "Seems like they are trying to keep themselves hidden."

"Yeah," said Ashley. She then shook her head, sighing. "You have the time stamp, right?" Ashley asked.

"Right here," said Kasumi as she paused her own work and opened the message. She leaned forward, showing Ashley the time stamp. "When was it sent?"

Ashley squinted, reading the time-stamp listed. "Damn..." She grit her teeth. "He would've received that the day before the Normandy was destroyed..."

"Huh," said Kasumi. She then closed the message, returning back to work.

"So they had  _just_ made headway with Cerberus," Jodie said. She shook her head, looking at the others. "And he's talking about taking them down."

"Just like he wanted to on the Normandy," Ashley said. She looked over at the others. "He  _really_ wants to take them down."

"I'm more concerned about his line on monitoring the Council," said Valentine. "If they're going through all this trouble to take down a terrorist organization, what's up with the Council monitoring?"

"You think they are pondering taking the Council out as well?" asked Kalo.

Valentine frowned, pushing his sunglasses onto his face. "I don't know," he said. "But if you really look at it a certain way..." He shook his head. "We'd need to know  _why_ they want to take down Cerberus so badly, though."

"It sounds like they're motivated by revenge," Jodie said. "That's not enough?"

"I'm at a loss to know what the hell kind of revenge would cause them to be suspicious of someone who probably didn't have any hand in whatever it is Cerberus did against them," Valentine replied. "We can't all just assume that they killed his father."

"I guess so..." said Kalo. He turned to Valentine, standing up. "Do you think perhaps Cerberus...?" He paused, shaking his head. "Never mind."

"What?" asked Ashley.

"It is a dumb possibility," said Kalo as he sat down. "It is dumb, and I do not know why I thought it. Forget I said anything."

Valentine pursed his lips, shaking his head before looking over at Jodie. "So this is what we have..."

Jodie sighed. "I think..." The dream she had after Saren's defeat came back to her full force, and she took a sharp breath in at the recollection. "I think... we may need to go to their galaxy..."

"Go to the heart of the enemy?" asked Valentine. He then chuckled, giving Jodie a small smile. "Now our leader really  _is_ insane."

"You got a problem with that?" asked Ashley.

The pilot shrugged. "Well, I suppose if we did want to get intel, that would be one way to get it," he said. "Go to the heart of this galaxy that they inhabit and get the information from them. It's actually not so bad an idea." He sighed. "Only question is, what's waiting for us on the other side?"

"I don't know," said Jodie. "But it's seeming like we need to go there with as much information as we've gathered..."

"We'll figure that out," said Ashley. "We have a prisoner. We'll get him to talk eventually." She then looked at Kasumi. "Right?"

"Yep," said Kasumi as she closed her omni-tool. "I think I've extracted all the data from the translator. The software's isolated the languages not on our translators." She then smiled, handing the alien's translator back to Valentine before re-opening her omni-tool. "You'll be getting a patch to add those languages to your software right... about..."

And then, the omni-tools of everyone in the room pinged. Jodie nodded, opening her omni-tool. "All right," she said. She then looked at Valentine. "Make sure Sura and Legion have that translation patch as well. We'll start interrogating him as soon as we can."

Valentine nodded. "Of course," he said. "I'll just return this to him while I'm at it."

Kasumi smiled. "Now the fun part, right?"

"Yeah," said Jodie. She then looked over to Valentine, standing up and nodding. "Let's go and-"

And then, Jodie's omni-tool beeped. She paused, looking up to see the indication was for a message.

She paused, frowning at the sender. "Oh..." She sighed, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, you might have to prepare the interrogation. I'll be just a second."

Ashley frowned. "New friend?" she asked.

"Yep," said Jodie. She then smiled nervously at Kalo. "Especially since my old pen-pal is right over here."

Kalo blinked. "Old pen-pal?" he asked.

Ashley chuckled. "Long story," she said. "We'll tell you when we're not about to interrogate an enemy." She nodded. "We'll wait for you to finish reading that."

"I'll reply to it later," Jodie said as she opened her omni-tool. "I'll be there as soon as I read it. Get him ready to be interrogated."

"You got it," said Kasumi.

And with this, everyone but Jodie filed out of the room. As soon as they did this, Jodie sighed, opening her omni-tool as she leaned against the wall. She smiled, looking up at Aiden before turning her attention back to the message.

" _Jodie,_

_You're fine with that, right? Just making sure._

_Well, I guess here I am. Or something. I thought I'd take you up on that, see if you'd actually reply. You're probably busy, though. Eh, this was probably a stupid idea._

_I'm at the Citadel now. It's quiet, I guess. I just sit in my room all day now that I can't talk to you. It gets very boring pretty quickly. All I can do now is do homework. Ah, well._

_Maybe you'll reply, maybe you won't. Just do something so I know where we stand._

_-Kolyat_ "

Jodie sighed, rubbing the back of her head. She then closed the omni-tool, looking up at Aiden. "Remind me to reply once we do that interrogation."

Aiden clicked once, and then Jodie sighed. "Well, here goes nothing," she said.

* * *

Jodie stepped into the room, seeing everyone in the room close to where their prisoner stood. Jodie nodded, walking up to the alien as he glared up in disdain.

She then nodded to Sura, who simply crossed her arms. "Well, let's do this, yeah?" asked Sura.

Jodie nodded, before kneeling right by the alien. "So, let's make one thing very clear: we know you can understand us," said Jodie.

The alien glared at Jodie, but Jodie simply held her gaze. He frowned, watching as Sura leaned over him. "We also know you're not afraid of death, so we can't exactly use the threat of that," the asari said, tapping her fingers against the bulkhead. "However, we don't exactly need that. Let me make one thing perfectly clear: I can always go into your mind and get the information we need directly from your brain."

"But we're not going to do that," said Jodie. The alien turned to her in confusion. "Not unless it's a last resort." She then shook her head, looking at their captive. "Besides, I think we can get you to talk."

"I still think it's a long shot, but I'm giving her a chance to prove me wrong on that," said Sura. "So go ahead and prove her wrong."

Jodie crossed her arms, looking at the alien. "I know you can understand me," she said. "Now, can  _we_ understand  _you_?" She leaned forward. "Talk to us."

The alien glared, looking up at Sura. He said nothing for a few seconds, his eyes narrowed at everyone around him. He remained silent, his glare turning towards everyone else.

Jodie leaned forward. "You can tell us, or we can get it from your brain," said Jodie. "What'll it be?"

The alien remained silent, his glare lessening somewhat. He simply looked up, his mouth working open and closed as he pondered on how to answer.

Sura sighed, shaking her head. "Come on, buster, we haven't got all day," she said. She then paused, rubbing her chin. "Or I guess we could call you Buster in the meantime. You gotta admit, humans have it made when it comes to coming up with nicknames for people. That's just one of the many good things about-"

"You lie."

Jodie blinked, looking at the alien. His expression had evolved into a furious frown, and his glare was trained right on Sura. He had leaned forward the slightest bit, and Jodie found she was able to look at his hands, where they lied unmoving behind his back.

"Oh?" Sura asked, tilting her head at the alien.

The alien breathed in. "You speak as if humans have anything good to say for themselves," the alien said, his voice smoothly flowing from one word to the next. "They do not. They only know how to destroy."

Valentine sighed. "Man, you really need to lay off on the angsty teenage poetry," he said.

The pilot was met with glares from everyone else in the room, barring Legion. "Valentine, this is not the time," said Jodie. She then turned to the alien. "So we can understand you. Good. Your translator was useful."

"You're not getting anything more off of me," said the alien. "You may torture me all you want, but I have been trained to resist all kinds of torture."

Kalo looked over at Valentine nervously, but the pilot was already leaning forward. "That's assuming we  _want_ to torture you," Valentine said.

The alien frowned, looking at the pilot. "You do not?"

"There'd be no point," said Jodie. "We found the poison pill in your jaw." She shook her head. "We told you already: we know you're not afraid of death. If you're not afraid of that, there's not much more physical harm we can do to get you to talk."

"Not that you'd get good information from it, anyway," said Ashley. "After all, you'd just say anything to make the pain stop, right?"

The alien reared his head back, looking rather confused. Jodie shook her head, looking at the alien. "You are our prisoner, let's get that right," she said. "But we're not going to torture you. If you don't give us the information we need, we're going to have her look into your mind, so we'll have it no matter what. But I'd rather we hear the information from you first."

"I don't like invading minds without consent," said Sura. "It tends to lead to trauma."

"So you know what our hard way is," Jodie said. "So we can either invade your privacy, or we can do this the easy way. It's your choice."

"You have no power over me," the alien replied. "You cannot keep me bound here."

Legion clicked. "There are seven on this ship opposed to Prisoner," it pointed out. "We also note that Prisoner has not seen all of our capabilities. Probability of escape is rather low, barring a careless mistake."

"Machine's got a point," said Valentine. "You'd need to catch us off guard, and we'll be keeping an eye on you so that you don't do that."

The alien frowned, glancing down at the ground. He said nothing, but the slight shift of his shoulders told Jodie everything she needed to know.

Jodie nodded, standing up slowly. "So I guess now we run into our first question: what are you?" she asked.

The alien sighed, gritting his teeth angrily. "Spirits be damned..." he whispered. He then looked up, glaring at Jodie. "I am what is known as an aqueron."

"Aqueron, huh?" asked Sura. She then looked him over. "Hm... Aquatic life, hm?"

"You will not get much more than that about my species," he said. "Nor about the others."

"How many others are there?" Jodie asked. "We saw the human-like guys, and we saw that AI that took over the ship."

"Electronic entity," the aqueron replied. "AI is a crude term."

"We saw the  _AI_ take over the ship," Valentine insisted as he leaned forward. "So those are the famous articians."

The aqueron blinked in surprise, looking up at Valentine in shock. "How do you know their name?" he asked.

"We found it out," said Jodie. "That's not for you to know how I got that, though. What's important is that we know what Shepard was."

"And speaking of Shepard..." Jodie leaned forward. "What were you doing around Alchera? Why were you at the Normandy's crash site?"

"That is not for you to know," said the aqueron.

Jodie shook her head, before Sura leaned in. "Invasion of privacy, remember?" the asari asked. "You were obviously looking for  _something_ down there. And it can't be any information."

"So what were you looking for?" Jodie asked.

The aqueron glared at the others in the room, remaining silent. He stayed quiet, his lips curled downward and his brows furrowed as he glanced at the floor.

Finally, he grunted. "Shepard's body," he said. "We were searching for Shepard's body."

Jodie nodded. "I see," she said. She then stood up, stepping back. "Did you find it?"

"No," said the aqueron. He then looked up.

"So Shepard's body was still there?" asked Sura.

"At some point," said the aqueron. "But we haven't had any luck finding it. Last I heard from Command, it may already have been taken away before  _you_ came."

Jodie glanced at Sura. "Why would people want to take away the body?" she asked.

"Well, maybe someone else knows," said Valentine. "And maybe they want to do an autopsy, find out what that is." He then looked down at the aqueron. "I assume that's what you were doing."

The aqueron paused, before looking down. "Yes," he said.

Valentine shrugged. "Well, at least we didn't disrupt the search," he said.

Jodie nodded. "Hm..." She paused, looking at the others. "You were planning on taking it home, right?"

The aqueron chuckled darkly. "It is so obvious, no?" he asked humorlessly.

"Yeah," said Jodie. She paused, before standing up. "I'm sorry, we got a little off track. How many others are there from your galaxy?"

The aqueron frowned, glaring at the wall as he shifted his posture. He remained silent for a few seconds, Sura shifting her position as she looked down at him.

"Three," he said. "Not counting the ones you already know."

Jodie nodded. "Glad you're cooperating," she said. "What are they?"

The aqueron paused. "You will never meet them here," he said. "You would know them if you saw them."

"That doesn't answer the question," said Sura as she leaned forward. "What are they?"

"You do not need the information about them," said the aqueron. "After all, you will never go there."

"Says who?" asked Jodie.

The aqueron turned to Jodie, his eyes narrowing. "You cannot be seriously considering..." he said.

"We are," said Jodie. "If we can't find the answers we seek here, we're going there."

The aqueron paused, shaking his head. "Such audacity," he whispered. He then looked up. "You will have an extremely difficult time entering that galaxy . Even if you knew the password-which you do not-they will shoot you on sight."

Valentine leaned forward. "So there's a password involved?" he asked.

"Yes, but I doubt your knowing it would do any good," said the aqueron. "Only captains are told. I do not know the password." He then looked up at the asari. "You can check my mind, but you will not find it."

"That a challenge?" asked Sura.

"No," said the aqueron. "It is a matter of impossibility, as I do not know it myself." He then paused, looking up at the asari.

"So then where is it?" asked Kalo.

The aqueron paused, looking away. "We have seen many ships pass by our wormhole," he said. "I have even heard tales of some of the people that poured into it."

"People poured..." Jodie turned away, looking away.

The aqueron then looked at the geth. "Your friend here would know where it is," he said. "They were  _dangerously_ close to the wormhole for a lengthy period of time."

Legion's headflaps moved. "We do not know what Aqueron-Prisoner refers to," it said.

"Were there not a network of geth around there?" asked the aqueron.

Legion paused, Jodie looking at the geth in surprise. "Not true geth," Legion replied. Its headflaps moved, looking up.

"A network of..." Jodie said.

And then, something occurred to her. A news report, a mission...

She turned to Ashley, seeing confirmation as realization dawned on her, too.

"Those geth outposts!" Ashley said.

"Geth outposts?" asked Kalo. "What do you mean?"

"At one point, we were assigned to take out some geth outposts," said Jodie. "It was where Tali got her Pilgrimage gift. I wasn't on the ground team during those missions, but..." She then turned to the aqueron. "Was Shepard dispatched to take that one close to the wormhole out?"

"From what I heard, he was," the aqueron replied.

Jodie gasped, looking back at Ashley. "We were close to the wormhole..." Ashley said. Jodie felt her heart rate spike, and she shivered.

"My God..." Jodie said. "We were so close to his home..."

"Imagine that," Ashley said. She then pushed herself off the wall. "And it was one of the ones vessels vanished through," said Ashley.

"I am not to know," said the aqueron. "But the wormhole is in one of those four systems."

And then, Jodie breathed in, remembering a news report she had heard around that time. "The Armstrong Nebula," she said.

The aqueron turned to Jodie, his eyes again widening in shock. "How did you guess?"

Jodie bit her lower lip, looking at the aqueron. "Educated guess," she replied. "Heard it over the news once. Thanks for the confirmation." She then sighed, turning over to the aqueron. "So all we need is a password, then. And then we relate it to them."

"You will never last even with the password," the aqueron replied. "You do not know the layout of the galaxy."

"We'll handle that when we get there," said Jodie. She then nodded. "This is already a lot of information. Thank you for your cooperation."

The aqueron simply glared at Jodie. He then turned away, training his gaze on the bulkhead.

Sura then nodded. "Well, there's nothing else to see here, folks," she said. "Get out. I'll keep a watch on this guy, along with the machine."

"Affirmative," Legion added.

Jodie nodded. "Take care of him," she said.

And with this, she exited the room, followed by everyone except Sura and Legion. As soon as the door opened, Valentine crossed his arms.

"Well, that was productive," he said.

"Indeed it was," said Kalo. "That was more information than I thought we would get."

Jodie shrugged. "It's a lot, but it's still not everything he knows," she said. She then shrugged. "We can ask him those questions another day. It's better not to fatigue him out with really long interrogations."

"You really want him to trust us," said Valentine.

Jodie lifted her hand, gesturing at Valentine. "You don't think it'll be more productive?" she asked. "He'll talk more easily if he trusts us."

"Good luck," said Valentine. "I mean, did you  _hear_ some of what that guy said? You'll have a hell of a time convincing him to trust us."

"Doesn't mean I won't try," said Jodie. She then shook her head. "And even if we can't get him to trust us, we have a foolproof way of getting that information. If it comes down to it, I'm not afraid to use that."

Valentine paused, and then nodded. "Just making sure you know what you're getting into," he said. He sighed. "I'm gonna go chill. If you guys need me, I'll be in the rec room."

And with this, Valentine crossed the hallway. They all watched him enter, and after a few seconds Kasumi walked in after him. The door closed behind them with a rather decisive click, and nothing else was really said in that hallway.

* * *

Jodie sat in her bed, finishing the typing of her message.

"Do you think we will have information soon?"

She glanced up at the bunk above her. She smiled. "Maybe, Kalo," she said. "We got a lot from our interrogation today."

"We need a password to get there," Kalo replied. "How are we ever to find it, though?"

Jodie shrugged, finishing her message. "We'll figure that out as we go," she said. "But hey, we've got a starting point now. That's better than nothing, right?"

"I suppose it is," said Kalo. He sighed, and Jodie saw his hand hang over the edge of his bed. "I suppose from here we will just have to see what happens."

"Pretty much," said Jodie. She then pulled her arm back, looking at the message she had typed out.

" _Kolyat,_

_I'm here. I think you'll find I'm a much more reliable person than that when it comes to replying back to people I know. You can ask my quarian friend about that sometime._

_At least you have something stable in your life. Take it from me: that's about the best thing anybody can ask for. You never know what you have unless you don't have it anymore. I'm sure life isn't that bad for you._

_Anyway, I am a bit busy, but I don't really have a wealth of stuff to reply to. So... Well, I guess this message is to let you know that I'm here, and that I'm listening._

_Hope you reply soon,_

_Jodie._ "

She sighed, looking up at Aiden. The entity clicked, and then Jodie shrugged. "I suppose that's true, Aiden," she replied.

Jodie then sent the message, settling her head in her pillow.

"Aiden?" asked Kalo.

"How did you guess?" she asked.

"The silence," he said. "I feel ridiculous speaking to Aiden because of that. It is hard to speak to silence." He then paused. "Um... no offense intended, Aiden."

The entity clicked a couple of times, Jodie shrugging. "He says none taken," Jodie replied. "He's used to people not knowing he's there unless he announces his presence."

"It must be a strange existence," said Kalo. Jodie heard the bedsheets ruffle around Kalo. "How do you manage it, Aiden?"

"He has me," Jodie replied. "It keeps him from feeling completely alone, but even he has his moments."

"I cannot imagine he would not," said Kalo. The quarian sighed gently, and then Jodie saw his face mask peer over the edge of his bed. "Do you think...?" He paused. "Do you think Aiden is unique?"

"I  _know_ he is," Jodie replied. "No other entity acts like him. Most of the time, they're...  _violent_." She shook her head. "Well, when they come into contact with humans, anyway." She shook her head. "Honestly, I'd be happy never to battle another entity. Some of them can get particularly violent."

"They can?" asked Kalo.

Jodie sighed, placing her hands behind the back of her head. "Yeah," she said. "There was one time I was trying to hitchhike across the country, actually. I came across a ranch run by a Navajo family during that time..."

And then, Jodie proceeded to tell Kalo the story of her encounter with Ye'iitsoh.


	6. Chapter 6

Jodie walked into the shuttle where it remained parked. The shuttle was in very good condition, actually, considering that it had been rammed into the back of its docking bay. She could only shake her head at the slight dent in the Lying Bastard, but she could not really be brought to care.

She crossed her arms, before looking at the shuttle itself. She then shrugged, walking over to the open shuttle door and entering to find Ashley looking over the controls.

As Jodie entered, Ashley glanced behind her. "Oh, Jodie," she said. She then shrugged, returning to her work. "Hey. You hanging in there?"

"I'm fine," Jodie replied as she stepped into the shuttle, sitting on one of the seats across from the door. "You?"

"This is all very big," Ashley admitted. "I'm just a grunt, Jodie. If you'd have told me I'd be brought along for  _this_ ride...?"

"I know what you mean," Jodie replied. "My life is full of nothing but that."

"Did you ever get to determine your own direction?" Ashley asked.

Jodie nodded. "Once, when I was on the run from the CIA," she said. She sighed. "It wasn't great. The CIA knows how to hunt you down, you know. But it was something. No obbliggations, and I could determine my own direction in life." She shook her head. "It's a weird existence."

"But you survived it," Ashley said.

"Yeah," Jodie said. She looked up, Aiden gurgling. "I've survived it." She shrugged, looking over at Ashley. "And you, with a family... I bet your sisters are worried about you."

"I bet they are," Ashley admitted. "I would be too, if one of them had been roped into this whole mission." She sighed. "I couldn't tell them about the specifics, though. Anderson kept me from doing that."

"Of course," Jodie said with a plain tone. "Wouldn't want this secret to get out too much."

"No, we wouldn't," said Ashley. "Still, it's tough to tell them you're going on a mission and then find yourself unable to tell them what the mission is. Or even when you're gonna get back."

"Yeah..." Jodie sighed, leaning back on the chair. "You learn to deal with it."

"I guess so," Ashley said. She paused, before turning around, leaving the controls behind. "I'm worried about this mission. I'm worried about what we'll find..."

Jodie nodded, swallowing a lump in her throat. "I think we all feel it," Jodie said. She shrugged. "But honestly? We signed up for it. I wouldn't be here if I didn't expect I'd find something very, very worrying for this whole galaxy. We have to prepare for anything."

"True," said Ashley. She sighed, before turning back. "I guess I just needed to clear my head a bit. Especially now that we're working with a damn geth. I'll be  _very_ surprised if I'm not court martialled for treason when I get back."

Jodie frowned, looking over at Ashley. "We'll get them to understand," she said. "The Alliance, I mean."

"I hope so," Ashley replied. She shrugged. "I hope so..."

Jodie nodded. "Running diagnostics on the shuttle?" she asked.

"Yeah." She looked down. "Everything looks to be running fine so far. I just want to make sure our little landing didn't jostle any of the systems too badly. That wouldn't be good if we wanted to use this thing again."

* * *

Some time later, Jodie walked into the science lab. She looked over, seeing Valentine and Sura watching over the prisoner. Legion continued to work dilligently at the work table, casting a glance at the aqueron every so often.

As soon as Jodie entered, Valentine and Sura turned their attention to her. "Hm," said Sura. "Finally decided to change the guard? I guess you want the fanfare, too?"

"Hey now," Valentine replied. "She's not the Queen of England, you know."

"It's... it's fine," said Jodie, holding a pack close to her chest. "I'm not fond of all that, anyway."

Sura sighed. "Well, if that's how you're going to do it..." She shrugged, patting Jodie on the back. "Don't mind the robot. It's just been sitting there analyzing that sword."

"Yeah," said Valentine. He then saw the pack Jodie held close to her chest. His eyebrows rose, and then he nodded. "Good luck with that, by the way."

Jodie nodded. "I'll be fine," she replied. "You can count on that."

Valentine nodded, before walking to the door. "Then I'll leave that to you. We'll be back when it's our turn."

And with this, Jodie watched as Sura and Valentine exited the room. The door closed behind them, Jodie keeping her gaze trained on the door for a brief time. She then nodded, and turned her attention to the aqueron prisoner. Legion remained quiet as she knelt beside him, setting the pack on the floor.

The aqueron frowned. "You said there would be no torture," he said.

Jodie shook her head, opening the pack. "This isn't anything to torture you with," Jodie replied.

She then pulled a seal on the pack, revealing a few choice items that looked only tangentially like food. The aqueron's eyes widened, Jodie grabbing a spoon from one of the slots in the package. She then brought the utensil through a white mass, the mass breaking up slightly to revel it was solid, with little brownish-purple patches.

Jodie cringed. "Crap, it was the mashed potato ration," she said. She sighed. "I am so sorry for what you're about to taste. Trust me, it tastes bad on my palate, too."

The aqueron paused. "That is what you eat?" he asked. He frowned, looking down. "No wonder."

Jodie shrugged. "Normally, we can get it to taste better than this," she said. She then paused, looking at the aqueron. "You're a levo-amino, right?"

The aqueron frowned, tapping his foot against the floor. "And how do you know I won't lie?"

"I can always get our asari to come back in and pull it out of your mind," said Jodie.

The aqueron huffed, his eyes narrowed. "Levo," he said.

Jodie nodded. "Good," she said. She then lifted the utensil, holding it up to the aqueron's mouth. "Now, open wide."

The aqueron glared at Jodie for a few seconds, before opening his mouth. Jodie gently put the spoon in, the aqueron closing it. Jodie withdrew the spoon, watching as the aqueron chewed on it. The prisoner then paused, his eye ridges elevating slightly. He made no other indication, before looking down at the ration of food. He then swallowed, Jodie noticing that it didn't take him very much effort to do it, and that he did it without cringing.

"That was... not unpleasant," he said.

Jodie frowned. "How did that not taste that bad?" she asked.

"It didn't," said the aqueron. "Though I wonder why you would feed the prisoner."

"Well, we'd be terrible hosts if we  _didn't_ make sure you stayed fed, right?" Jodie asked.

The aqueron snorted, his expression humorless as he regarded Jodie. "You speak as if I  _want_ to be here," he said.

"Perhaps," said Jodie as she scooped up more of the mashed potato ration. "And for the record, I feel just as ridiculous as you do."

"Yes, it is quite pathetic that I'm being spoonfed by a captor," said the aqueron bitterly.

Jodie shook her head, bringing the spoon back up to the aqueron. The prisoner took a bite again, Jodie sighing. "At this rate, we might have to go back to civilization sooner to get more of these," she said. "We weren't expecting to have another person on board."

The aqueron looked over at Legion. "Two people," he said.

Jodie blinked, before her brows furrowed. Before she could say anything, though, the geth turned to the aqueron. "This platform does not require the intake of organic food to remain functional," Legion said.

Jodie nodded. "Yeah, what the geth said," she replied.

"You still speak as if it were not a person," said the aqueron, spitting out some of his words. "Yet another thing humans can't do right."

"Why do you say that?" Jodie asked.

The aqueron glared at Jodie. "Your pilot encountered our electronic entity," he replied.

Jodie frowned, looking back at Legion. "Electronic entity..." she said. "That's a weird term, isn't it? It sounds so... strange."

"It's not racist the way 'artificial intelligence' is," said the aqueron, leaning forward as he bared his teeth.

"Why?" Jodie asked. "I mean, it's an intelligence created by people, isn't it?"

"Ah, but it's 'artificial'," the aqueron replied. "Artificial. Something not made through natural means. That implies it isn't really alive." He shook his head. "We much prefer 'electronic entity'. That term breathes life into it, considers them a person. It means they exist."

Jodie frowned. "You could call an OSD an entity, though," she said. "It exists."

"Ah, but can they think?" asked the aqueron. "Do they have the capability to ponder their own existence?"

"The capacity to question our existence requires intelligence."

Jodie and the aqueron both turned to Legion, the geth temporarily stopping what he was doing to look at them.

The aqueron frowned. "What?" the aqueron asked.

"If this platform were to be asked if we preferred 'electronic entity' or 'artificial intelligence', we would answer 'neither'," Legion replied. It then turned to the aqueron. "We accept the fact that we are not organic, and that we are the creations of a physical species. The term 'artificial' is of minimal importance. What is important is the capacity to form thoughts."

"Hence... intelligence," said Jodie.

"Affirmative." Legion then turned to Jodie. "Nor would we think of 'entity' as a term the same way. According to our data banks collected from studying organics, 'entity' is often used in contexts where the object is alive."

Jodie nodded. "I guess connotation does count for a lot," she said.

The aqueron growled. "But 'artificial'!" he said. "That encourages a separation between the organic and the machine!"

"'Electronic' can do that too," Jodie replied. "How many organic beings need to be powered by electricity to survive?"

The aqueron paused, glancing to the side. "I..." He closed his mouth, looking down at the ground. He remained silent for a few seconds, before he turned back to Jodie. "Electricity is used in an organic body as well, isn't it?"

"This platform requires more electricity to function than an organic body," Legion said. "We use electricity in a far more obvious manner."

"And besides, 'electronic' is used only for machines around here," Jodie replied. She then shifted her posture, looking at the aqueron. "I guess neither term is perfect."

"Bah." The aqueron growled, turning away. "Primitives. All of you."

Jodie shook her head, scooping another spoonful of the mashed potato. "We're feeding you," she said. "We can't be that primitive if we're watching out for a prisoner's health, right?"

The aqueron turned to Jodie, his glare fixed on her. However, Jodie felt no fear: she gave a small smile, shrugging as she held the spoonful up to the aqueron. "Here," she said. "We've still got the rest of the ration to go."

The aqueron sighed, before turning back to Jodie. He bit down on the spoon, glaring at Jodie ruefully the whole time.

* * *

"I'm pretty sure he doesn't like us."

"Oh really? What gave it away? The fact that he doesn't talk to us, or the fact that when he does he constantly calls us primitives?"

Sura sat back, digging into a ration of some funny-looking asari bread as Jodie leaned forward. "Well..." Jodie replied. She glanced off to the side.

The asari nodded. "You see?" she asked. "There you go."

Jodie nodded, popping a couple of raisins into her mouth. As she chewed and swallowed, she looked up. "Primitives..." She sighed, looking over at Sura. "You know, I have to wonder..."

"What?" Sura asked.

Jodie sighed, looking up. "I mean, you looked into my mind," she said. "You saw all the things I saw there, how I technically forward in time..." She shook her head. "And now I'm walking around in a time where I'm talking to extraterrestrials."

"Yeah, I've seen some of the human-made movies about that," said Sura. "If your species did any more speculating, I'd question your ability to make decisions."

"We're just a curious lot," Jodie replied. "Just like you." She then shrugged. "But no. I feel like I've stepped into a place where everything is so advanced it's not even funny. So if that's the case..." She then leaned forward. "Can you even  _imagine_ what this other galaxy could be like?"

Sura paused. "Hm... Actually, I hadn't thought of it like that," she said. She paused, frowning. "Wow. Okay, that's... that's actually kind of freaky." She then turned back to Jodie. "Though he could always mean it derogatorily or something."

"It could be," said Jodie as she glanced to the side. "Still, think about it. They had ships that could turn invisible to the human eye, they have whatever stopped Valentine from moving away from that other ship, they have that thing that Legion's analyzing."

"You mean the machine," Sura immediately spat out, her expression turning sour.

" _Legion_ ," said Jodie. She shook her head. "Anyway, the point is, can you imagine what they have?"

Sura's frown deepened, but any further indications of anger were lost when she took the bite out of the bread. "No..." said Sura. She then frowned again, before sitting up on the edge of the bed. "And you know, come to think of it, why not exchange some of that with us?"

Jodie frowned. "Sura?" she asked.

"Think about it," said the asari. "These guys have all this advanced tech that we're just starting to see. They've got all these things that our engineers could only dream of doing." Sura shrugged. "So of  _course_ , instead of offering all that advanced tech to us as a first contact gift, they're using it to directly subvert the Council's authority. You know, because  _that_ makes sense from a diplomatic standpoint."

Jodie nodded. "That's... true," she said. "It almost casts their motivations suspiciously."

"Doesn't it?" Sura asked. She then shrugged. "This just keeps getting more interesting."

"It does," said Jodie. She then paused, before looking over at the asari. "You think we should try to get more answers out of our prisoner?"

"Sure," said Sura. "Well, once it's time to switch the guard duty again, anyway. I don't know about you, but I don't want to have to be around that damn machine any longer than I need to."

Jodie sighed. "Whatever you say," she said. She then sighed, popping another two raisins into her mouth. "Well, I'm going to go check on some of the others. I'll see you in an hour, right?"

"Yeah," Sura replied, leaning back. "I'll see you then."

With this, Jodie nodded, walking out of the room. She sighed, hearing Aiden chirp overhead as she made her way to the cockpit.

* * *

"So, about these 'exions'..."

The aqueron grumbled, looking up at Jodie in anger. "So you know what they are," he said.

"We picked up a message from the Commander himself," said Jodie. She then crossed her arms. "They're the artificial intel... sorry,  _electronic entities_  that you told us about, right?"

The aqueron scoffed. "Took you long enough." He then glanced up at Sura. "I'm surprised you are letting it slide."

"It's not like I have a choice," said Sura. She shook her head, glancing at Legion. The geth was busy analyzing a crystal, and seemed to distracted to contribute to the conversation.

Sura turned away. "Anyway, that's not the point," she said. "What can they do?"

"You saw what it can do," the aqueron replied.

"Yes, but that doesn't answer the question," said Jodie. "How could it take over our hardware?"

The aqueron paused. "It can send out data to any hardware wirelessly," he said. "And it can use a heartbleed to gather your information. From there, it can quickly take over, locking you out as your log-in information is erased..."

"Wait, that's it?" Jodie asked. She frowned. "I was expecting something more... convoluted."

"And I can think of a few ways that'd be easily stopped," Sura said. She then paused. "Unless..."

"Not only can it do it quickly, but once it has formatted your drive..." He then smirked. "It can insert a part of its personality into the hardware."

"It can put itself in there?" asked Sura. She then frowned. "How?"

"It... jumps," said the aqueron. "As long as they can maintain a connection, it can inhabit whatever space it can clear. It allows it to project itself through that data, and it can do so to any hardware it takes over." He frowned. "And it can keep that connection."

Jodie blinked. "Kasumi fought with it and it left, right?" she asked.

"That was a fluke," said the aqueron. "It was not expecting to be pulled away from the connection point." He then growled. "You found a way to stop it."

Sura shook her head. "Well, just moving it away won't work," she said. She then looked up. "Though I'm pretty sure C-SEC would  _love_ to hear about how to counter it."

"You cannot counter it," the aqueron replied.

The asari smirked. "Try me," she said. "The thing is we weren't prepared for it. But I bet if we know what to look for, we can proof it all against that." She then tapped her foot down. "So what else can you guys do?"

The aqueron grumbled, looking away. "I should not have to tell you what else this galaxy is capable of," he said. "Stop wasting my time."

"Well, we could always cut to the chase and look inside your head," said Sura.

The aqueron sighed angrily. "You still waste your time with this petty behavior," he said. He then shook his head, turning to Jodie. "Fine. Our ships can turn invisible, as you also saw. But what you  _didn't_ see... Our ships don't need the mass relays."

Jodie blinked, looking at Sura's expression of shock. "Wait, what?" Sura asked. "That's impossible!"

"Our galaxy has no mass relays," said the aqueron. "It's a necessity. We have ways of warping time and space: we open a hole in time and space to travel those distances. It is roughly equivalent to a mass relay jump."

Jodie nodded, chewing her lower lip a little. "Just like Vigil said..." she said. She then paused, kneeling in front of him. "What else do you have waiting for us? Something more advanced, like a weapon?"

"You are seeing it," said the aqueron as he glared at Legion. "And you have seen it. Our guns are not so dissimilar, in some ways. We have no mass effect, but it seems our guns still launch particles with great speed." He growled. "It took us much longer to achieve that technology, but we acquired it." He then growled. "Not that you will ever know most of what it is if we can help it. We will never yield our technology to you  _primitives_."

Sura sighed, rubbing her temples. "You just love making our job difficult." She then shook her head. "Oh well. Par for course, really." She shrugged indifferently.

"I know," said Jodie. She then looked at him. "Well, I think that was productive."

"You say it was productive," said the aqueron. "I say it was theater. If you're going to interrogate me, don't waste my time."

And with this, the aqueron turned away. Jodie sighed, looking at Sura. "Well, I guess that's everything we can get out of him for now," she said.

"Yep," Sura agreed. "I'll just sit here, then, watch over this guy. I'll see you around."

Jodie nodded. She turned on her foot, looking over a Legion as she walked to the door.

* * *

"So that's what you were thinking of, huh?"

Jodie sat back in the couch, the holovid playing at the other end of the rec room. "Yeah," Jodie said. She turned her attention back to the vid, but found her mind could not stay focused on it.

"Yeah, he does seem genuinely angry," said Kasumi. She sighed. "I swear, he spat at me once when he called me a primitive."

Jodie nodded. "That does not surprsie me." She then turned back to the holovid, watching as two women dressed in old Japanese finery turned to each other. "And Xerxes said this was mandatory viewing..."

Kasumi shrugged. "Well, it's more outdated than anything," Kasumi said. "This is what passed for a strong female character at the time."

Jodie snorted, her attention turning as the shorter of the two obviously not-Japanese women sang in Italian. "No shit," she commented wryly.

And then, the shorter woman launched into an aria, the high, delicate notes floating from the speakers. Jodie shrugged, looking over at Kasumi as she shifted on the floor. They both listened on, the musical line descending into a cadence.

"Well, at least the music's nice," Kasumi replied.

Jodie nodded. "Yeah," she said. "That's about all you can say about this thing, really."

"Yeah," Kasumi said. She shrugged. "That's all you can say about most opera."

Jodie nodded. She then sighed, shaking her head. "The man she loves is lying."

Kasumi shrugged. "Well, this thing is... what? Over two and a half centuries old?" She chuckled, shaking her head. "It's not a spoiler if it's really old."

"I know that," said Jodie. "But... I don't know. I guess I'm feeling a little more spiteful of Pinkerton than some. I've seen his type: he tried to save the galaxy once."

"Shepard..." Kasumi said as the aria quieted down.

"Yeah," Jodie replied. She paused, looking at the singer on the screen as the camera zoomed in closer to her hopeful face. "I wonder how much he really told Tali about himself."

"Tali?" Kasumi asked. "You mean that qua..." The thief blinked, before she tilted her head at Jodie. "So they were in a relationship, huh?"

"Yeah," said Jodie. "Tali really liked him. I... I tried to warn her to stay away, but..." She shook her head. "Let's be honest, she probably didn't listen."

"Maybe, maybe not," Kasumi replied. She shrugged. "Hey, look on the bright side: at least people can't come back from the dead."

Jodie nodded. "True," she said. She then sighed, feeling comforted at that fact. "True. There's something in that, at least." She looked up at the ceiling as the orchestra swelled into a crescendo. "You think Tali can move on?"

"We'll see," Kasumi said.

"I hope she does," said Jodie. "If he lied to all of us like that, then I don't think he was a good guy..."

And with this, Jodie turned her attention back to the aria as the orchestra blasted the coda to the aria.

It was right as the orchestra quieted down and played the soft closing chord that the door to the rec room opened. Jodie sat up, looking in as Legion entered, its headflaps moving.

"Holmes-Anomaly," it said. "Kasumi-Thief." It regarded Kasumi briefly. "We have analyzed the weapon you took from Shepard-Commander's last known location."

Jodie blinked, standing up as Kasumi hit the pause on the holovid projector. "You did?" she asked. "What is it?"

"We believe this weapon is far more technologically advanced than anything this galaxy has ever seen before." The geth looked at Jodie.

"We believe you should see this."

* * *

"Wow."

Jodie looked at the disassembled weapon on the work table. Kasumi, Kalo, and Valentine all looked over it, Ashley and Sura keeping watch over the aqueron in the corner. Jodie leaned forward, looking intently at the objects scattered about. A few metal rods here, a power cell there, a few wires, a couple of crystals as well... It was a mess of mechanical parts, but Jodie could see from the way the machine had laid it out that there was a sense to the order.

Valentine leaned over Jodie's shoulder, adjusting his sunglasses as he looked at the spread out weapon. "Damn," he said. "Where was  _this_ when I was ten years old?"

"In a galaxy far, far away," Sura replied.

Valentine chuckled. "At least it wasn't a long time ago, too," Valentine replied. He then turned to the object on the table. "Damn... How do you get all this?" He then leaned forward. "And how does it work?"

Legion began by pointing at a large grey cylinder, the cylinder still attached inside the open hilt. "We propose that this fires energy," said Legion.

"And the energy passes through there," said Kalo, rubbing the bottom of his face mask as he indicated the various metal cylinders. "I assume it converts whatever that cell releases into some form of plasma, no?"

"Affirmative," Legion replied. It then pointed at the crystals on the table. "We believe these focus the energy into a usable form that can be adjusted according to each specific platform's needs."

"Just like a lightsaber," said Valentine.

"Damn..." Kasumi rubbed her chin, looking at it. "I don't know about you, but I  _love_ the fact that we don't have anything like this over here."

"We would have used a mass effect field in there," said Kalo. "And I do not believe we would be able to generate the amount of energy needed to control plasma, either."

"So we have a weapon of theirs, and we can see the tech..." Jodie nodded. "Well. I think our visit turned out to be more fortuitous than you might have expected."

Ashley nodded. "Yeah," she said. "Damn, all we needed to do was analyze Shepard's sword..."

Valentine turned to Ashley. "He had one of these?" he asked.

"Used it at the C-SEC office where Jodie took Tali," said Sura. "He's lucky they didn't take out of my paycheck to pay for the desk he slashed in half. I would've confiscated it for sure then."

"I guess he wouldn't have wanted us near it," said Jodie. She leaned forward. "He must've kept this thing under such a tight lock and key whenever he could. Couldn't risk it falling into our hands..."

"Yeah," said Ashley. "Damn, that's some pretty impressive proof, and it was dangling in front of us the whole time." She then paused, looking over at Sura. "Come to think of it, how do you think that thing would get past customs every time Shepard had to go through security somewhere?"

"I don't know," said Sura. She then glanced at the aqueron. "But I bet our friend here knows something."

"You wouldn't get it," said the aqueron immediately.

Sura then quirked an eye ridge. "Oh, so you  _want_  me to go into your mind and find out, then?" she asked.

The aqueron sighed, glaring to the side. "Most times, they are left on the ship," he replied. "But when we cannot do that, we often... how do we say it...? Mask it. One of those coils emits a field that masks it to scanners in your galaxy."

"And then we assume it clears customs," said Sura. She then frowned, crossing her arms before looking at the weapon. "And we'd be able to figure out how they do that if we look at this thing?"

"Yes," said the aqueron.

Sura nodded. "Then I'll be getting Kasumi to do that," she said. "I could have a little cat with Pallin about increasing the power of the scanner."

"That's good," said Valentine. "I think we've also got all the proof we need this galaxy exists."

Jodie nodded. "Be that as it may, we still don't know what they want with the Council," she said. "Even if we can prove their existence, I feel we should try to gauge their intent before we go back."

"We know they want Cerberus, at least," said Sura. "And given all the secrecy, they may be after the Council, too."

"Shit, they impersonated a human that became a goddamn  _Spectre_ ," Valentine pointed out. "You can't get much more proof than that of their intentions, you know."

"True, but I feel like we should know why they want what they want," Jodie said. "If we know what motivates them..."

"Then you're sure they'd take the right action," said Ashley.

Valentine paused, stroking his chin. He then nodded. "That's true, actually," he said. "This is already going to be one hell of a diplomatic incident once we bring all this evidence forward, the Council won't want to add fire to it by acting without full knowledge of what's going on."

"I bet they'd even ask us to look into why they haven't revealed themselves," said Kasumi. "I mean, these guys have gone at this for... how long?"

"I don't know," said Jodie. "And even if I did, that's not the important question." She shook her head. "Why go through all this trouble? Why the secrecy?"

"You know why."

Jodie and the others breathed in, all of them frozen in place at the cold quality that was spoken in. After a few seconds, all attention turned back to the aqueron, everyone looking at him with some degree of surprise. The aqueron's eyes were aflame with a kind of a quiet fury that caused Jodie's blood to freeze, and his jaw seemed unusually tense.

Everyone stared at the aqueron for a second. And then, Kalo shifted his foot.

"We know why?" the quarian asked, leaning forward. "I... I apologize, I do not know what you mean."

"You know what you did," the aqueron replied. He then frowned, looking at Jodie. "Well, what  _they_ did."

"What  _we_ did?" asked Jodie.

"Yes," said the aqueron. "Or do you not remember what happened thirty years ago between our galaxies?"

"Thirty years ago?" Valentine turned. "What happened?"

"Or do I need to extract  _that_ out of your mind too?" asked Sura.

"That would be unnecessary," said the aqueron. He glared up at the asari, his brows furrowed in fury. "I'll give you all this, you can certainly feign ignorance to great effect. But no one can pretend forever. I know you remember." As he spoke, his voice rose in volume. "I know you know more about the culture than you have dared say; I know you know more about all of us, about the articians,  _everything_ than you say you do! So don't insult my intelligence anymore!"

Sura breathed in, and Jodie thought she saw the asari's brow twitch. Jodie herself felt a rush of anger fill her veins, Aiden murmuring as Jodie's hands tightened into fists.

"You think we're faking our confusion?" asked Valentine.

"You do it very well, especially for primitives," said the aqueron. "It is all you do. I have no reason to tell you what you already know."

Jodie frowned, shaking her head as she then leaned forward, her arms crossed in front of her as she leaned in front of his face. "If we knew what had happened, we wouldn't be asking why you're here," she said. "And we also wouldn't have gone to Alchera in the first place to find  _answers_. We know absolutely  _nothing_ about your galaxy, and we don't know what you want. We're here because we  _don't_ know what's going on."

"Keep speaking your lies," the aqueron replied. "I can't trust anything you say. You buttered us up before, your species buttered us up before. I'm not falling for the act again."

"What act are you talking about?" Jodie asked, feeling the hair on her arms stand on end.

The aqueron glared at Jodie right in the eyes. "You know what it is," he said. "And frankly, I don't have to relive my galaxy's pain for  _your_ benefit when you know what's there. So I say to you: sod off."

Jodie bristled, Aiden chirping angrily. She waited a few seconds, failing to notice the soft clicking noise she heard. Everyone else looked at the aqueron, all of them staring at him in some kind of anger.

And then, Jodie turned to Sura. "Well, he's not coopoerating," she said. "He's all yours, officer."

Sura then cracked her knuckles, leaning close to the aqueron as he turned to glare at her angrily. Sura met the glare head-on, grabbing the aqueron's head and looking intently into his eyes.

"Well, don't say we didn't warn you," she said. "Embrace eternity!"

The aqueron opened his mouth to protest, but before he could, Sura's eyes turned black. And then, the aqueron's eyes went blank as well. Jodie frowned, looking down at the aqueron's hands as Sura embraced eternity with him. Everyone stood there, Jodie looking on as she felt the rage she felt at the aqueron's accusations slowly whittle away.

And then, after a while, Sura lunged back. Both aqueron and asari parted, the aqueron leaning back as the asari stumbled back, nearly falling onto the lockers behind her.

Jodie breathed in sharply, Kalo rushing to help the asari to her feet. By then, the anger in the room had dissipated, especially seeing at how Sura was breathing in and out.

"Sura?" Kalo asked. "Sura? What is wrong? What happened?"

"So much death..." Sura said. "So much death..."

"So much death?" Jodie asked, walking to Sura. "Sura, what did you see in there?"

"The truth," said the aqueron. Jodie turned to him, noticing that Valentine and Kasumi had both stepped closer, Ashley leaning over. "The truth of what you  _monsters_ did to us!"

Jodie immediately turned to the aqueron, feeling the anger bubble in her again. "What aren't you telling us?" she shouted.

As soon as she released this shout, the light in the room flickered on and off, some of the equipment in the room powering up and down. Valentine and Legion looked up in surprise.

"Uh..." Valentine said.

Jodie and the aqueron ignored him. "You know what I hide," the aqueron replied as he raised his voice at Jodie.

"I don't!" Jodie shouted, the lights beginning to flicker with greater frequency. "What do you know?"

Ashley stepped back, looking at the room around them. "Jodie..." she said. "Jodie, what's going on?"

"The same thing you do!" cried the aqueron. "Stop pretending!"

Jodie breathed in and out, her nails digging into her palm. "If I knew, do you think I would ask?" she asked. "I know  _nothing!_ "

"You lie!" the aqueron shouted. "You lie, and that is all you can ever-!"

And then, the light fixture overhead exploded, showering the whole lab with sparks. This shocked the aqueron into silence, but before anybody could do anything else a loud series of clacks sounded from the work table.

"Holmes-Anomaly!" Legion droned in the clamor. "We did not give you permission to-"

But before Legion could finish its sentence, the quickly assembled hilt levitated off the table, a loud whooshing sound smashing through the room as the beam of energy cast light on everyone. The beam sword was held in the air by an invisible force, the aqueron looking on wide-eyed as the tip of the beam barely graced the skin of his throat. In the lighting above him, Jodie's furrowed brows greeted him, her expression far more menacing in the dull green light.

" _Answer the goddamn question!_ "

The silence following Jodie's angry declaration was deafening. Sura crawled back, Kalo looking on with wide eyes as they both stared at Jodie in shock. Ashley and Valentine both turned to Jodie, and even Legion tilted its head in confusion at what it had just seen. Kasumi huddled close to the wall, eventually standing next to Kalo as she looked at the levitating sword.

But the aqueron's shock was most apparent to all. He turned his attention back to the energy sword, his mouth hanging open as he turned back to Jodie. His eyes were wider than anyone in the room had seen them, and the stiffness in his muscles kept him rooted in place. He glanced up at Jodie, before looking at the sword held at his throat.

Finally, he swallowed, turning to Jodie.

"This... this is impossible..." he said.

" _What_  is?" Jodie cried, her fists tightening.

"You... you are not artician," said the aqueron. "Only the articians can be one of you."

At this, Jodie blinked in surprise, some of the anger on her face visibly evaporating. "One of what?" said Jodie.

"One of... one of the spirit-touched," the aqueron replied with a shaky exhale.

Jodie tilted her head, her anger gone and instead replaced by confusion. "Spirit-touched?" she asked with a half-whisper.

"Yes," the aqueron said, looking up in fear. "How... how is it even-?"

And then, Jodie and Kasumi's omni-tool sounded at exactly the same time. Jodie blinked in shock, looking at her omni-tool to see an indication for a message. Jodie would have ignored it, but when she turned, she saw the exclamation mark that denoted the message's urgency.

"Kasumi?" asked Ashley. "Jodie?"

Jodie turned to Kasumi, the two of them widening their eyes as they looked at the sender's name.

"Xerxes..." Jodie whispered.

Kasumi immediately opened the message, Jodie stepping back and doing the same thing. Aiden released the energy sword, the blade vanishing before it was placed back on the work table. And then, Kasumi and Jodie opened their messages, glancing at each other as Kalo and Sura leaned close.

"What is it?" asked Kalo. "Is something...?"

Jodie breathed in. "I... don't know..." she said, looking at the message. "I hope..."

And then, she read it.

" _Jodie, Kasumi,_

_I'm sending this message before I head out to work. I hope to the spirits_ _they can't break the encryption on this thing. Kasumi, I used some tricks from your book. Please don't get too mad, but this is urgent._

_I'm being followed. I don't know who's following me or why, but I have a strong feeling that I'm being followed by those friends Jodie mentioned that Shepard had. They look too uncannily similar to humans, and there was some red-skinned drell with them. But something about them feels..._ off _. Especially the drell. It's like they're... pretenders. The drell's skin is too red and his scales don't look quite right to me, one of the humans constantly wears black sunglasses, the other seems too tall, too proud to be an average human... I don't know._

_They've been following me for the better part of two days, as if they were scoping my routine._ _Most would think nothing of it, but I've been tracked down by people enough times to know their type. They're after me._

_I'm sending this message to you now. The plan is to send you two another message every hour from the moment I send this one. If you don't get any messages in exactly one galactic standard hour, assume the worst has happened. Whatever you do, do_ not  _reply to this message. The reply will probably be unencrypted, and if they're looking for what I think they are they'll intercept that message and they'll have important information._

_I don't know what you'll be able to do if worst comes to worst. But if I can get back to you, I'll think of something._

_Stay safe out there,_

_Xerxes_ "

Jodie blinked, taking in a sharp breath. "How...?" she said.

"What happened?" asked Sura. "What's going on?"

"He said he's being followed," said Kasumi. She took a shaky breath in, turning to Jodie in what was perhaps the first time Jodie could see Kasumi's expression under the hood. "You don't think..."

"Shit," Jodie replied. "They must've caught on after Alchera. And that means... that means they know that this mission exists." She breathed in, looking at Valentine. "How much do they know?"

"I don't know." Valentine frowned, looking back. "If you're asking about the Alliance involvement, I doubt they know  _that_ much, especially since they likely picked up the fake ship registry we have here." He shook his head. "But as for external involvement, I don't know."

"Shit," said Jodie as she turned around. "What do we do?"

Kasumi blinked, breathing in nervously. "We wait," she said. "I know Xerxes. He never falls back on his word."

Jodie nodded. "He never does," she agreed. She sighed. "But what do we do if he we don't get a message from him? We can't just leave him to them."

"We'll figure something out," said Ashley. "Right now, we don't have time to worry about that." She then looked to everyone. "Is there  _anyone_ else you've told about this mission?"

"Not from me, no," Valentine said.

"I had no one else to tell," Kalo added.

"If they don't know that I'm a C-SEC officer yet, I think the people I know will be fine," Sura said.

"I... I hope so," said Jodie, rubbing the back of her head. She then sighed, looking at Kasumi. "Oh, I hope Xerxes be all right..."

"We'll find out soon enough," said Kasumi. "Just wait the hour out." She then turned to the aqueron. "In the meantime, we have things we need to learn from him."

Jodie turned to the aqueron, seeing he had stayed in place. The initial shock had worn off, though the aqueron now looked at Jodie with complete confusion. He had not bothered to shift his position, instead only looking at Jodie with an expression of confusion. Jodie crossed her arms, looking down at the aqueron.

"You said I was spirit-touched," she said. "What does that mean?"

"You... You have a spirit with you," said the aqueron. "Only the articians had that. They were... They were  _attached_ to a spirit. And it would guide them in all things." He breathed in and out, shaking his head. "This is unreal. Only articians could be that... How are you one?"

Jodie shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "I've had Aiden with me since birth."

"Aiden?" asked the aqueron. "Then I am to assume that is the spirit's... Gods, you  _are_  spirit-touched..."

"I... I guess so." Jodie shrugged as she looked at the aqueron.

"I... I don't understand," the aqueron said. "This is impossible."

Sura shook her head. "Anything's possible now," the asari said. She then frowned, looking at the others. "Especially after what I saw in there."

"Anything specific?" Ashley asked as she turned to Sura.

"No," said Sura. "But whatever the details, it was  _bad_." She shook her head, her hand falling onto her chest to steady herself. "I saw death... I saw so much death in there. I wasn't able to confirm it for sure, but I saw flashes of an emblem."

"An emblem?" Ashley blinked, opening her omni-tool and displaying an image. Jodie blinked, recognizing the orange emblem in the picture. "Was it this?"

"Yes," said Sura. "That was it."

"So Cerberus killed a bunch of people there?" Jodie asked.

"Yes." All attention turned back to the aqueron. "Cerberus... You really  _don't_ know anything."

Jodie shook her head. "No," she said.

"Then..." He looked to the side. "Then Cerberus doesn't wear it as a badge of pride that they killed so many people?"

"What are you talking about?" Ashley asked. "Most people don't know  _anything_ about Cerberus, except that they were a military branch that the Alliance recently cut ties with."

"What? But that..." The aqueron paused, looking away. "This is..." He paused, glancing away. "You're..."

And then, he fell silent. He turned away, closing his eyes. He shook his head, and said nothing more as his physical motions stopped. Jodie walked over, nearly placing her hand on his shoulder, but she hesitated. After a few seconds, she pulled away, stepping back.

"I have much to think on..." said the aqueron. "This is... This is unbelievable..."

Kasumi leaned over the work table. " _Well_ ," she said, her hands splaying out on the surface beneath them. "That was certainly interesting."

"Spirit-touched..." Kalo touched the edge of his mask, his fingers drumming against it. "This situtation keeps getting more and more complex with each thing we learn."

"Damn,  _more_ questions," said Valentine. "Does anyone else want this to be a simple stroll through the park like it should be?"

"I think we all want it to be that, but we're not getting it," said Sura. "And honestly, we're not  _going_ to get it at this rate." She sighed. "So we wait for the message, huh?"

Jodie nodded, opening her omni-tool. "One galactic standard hour," she said. She sighed, sitting down on the locker. She then looked up, seeing that the emergency back-up light shone above them. She then turned to Valentine.

"Sorry about the light. I'll fix that at some point."

* * *

The hour passed quietly, the tension thick in the air. The group had moved to the rec room, though Valentine and Legion had both stayed behind to keep an eye on the aqueron. All the others were crowded around Jodie and Kasumi the rec room, keeping a careful eye on Jodie and Kasumi's omni-tools. They said very little, the mounting pressure going to everyone.

As the hour neared its conclusion, Kasumi and Jodie both glanced at each other. Kasumi swallowed, glancing over at Sura. The cop shifted in her position next to the thief, rubbing her own shoulder. Sura nodded her head grimly, keeping her eyes closed as she waited for the message. Jodie sighed, hugging herself as she waited for the hour to end.

It was right as the last minute of the hour wore on that Jodie felt Kalo squeeze her shoulder. Jodie looked up, her eyes wide with fear. Kalo simply nodded, squeezing her shoulder reassuringly. Jodie's gaze turned towards the floor, and then she nodded, her lips forming a grimace. She swallowed the lump in her throat, looking down at her hand as Aiden chirped uncertainly.

And then, the hour came.

It passed without a single sound. So, too, did the next few minutes, which were spent in a silence that slowly slipped from a tense silence to a horrified silence.

And as the minutes wore on, they saw that Xerxes would leave no reply.

Jodie swallowed, one of her hands cupping over her mouth. She let out a shaky breath, Kasumi and Sura both looking on as well. Ashley stood up, looking between Kasumi and Jodie.

Jodie squeezed her eyes shut, breathing out nervously. "No..." she whispered. "God, no..."

She felt Kalo sit next to her, the quarian pulling her into a hug. Jodie remained quiet, shaking her head.

"No..." Kasumi whispered.

Jodie inhaled audibly through her nose. "Dammit..." she whispered. "This... this is all my fault..."

"Don't blame yourself," said Sura. "I talked him into helping you. We've all got some part of the blame here."

Jodie shook her head. "But if I hadn't dragged him into it..." She then paused, exhaling as Kalo patted her back. Aiden let out a soft flurry of clicks, all of them softer than normal.

And meanwhile, Jodie felt her eyes water.

 _Dammit,_  she thought.  _I'm dragging people into my business again..._

Ashley shook her head. "We can't think about that now," she said.

Jodie paused, looking up at Ashley. The gunnery chief's expression was neutral, though Jodie noticed that there was a fire there in the gunnery chief's eyes. She stared at it, her eyes still watering. Jodie felt her heart sink a little, but just as quickly, she felt another sensation.

Briefly, she felt warmth around her arm. When she looked, there was nobody there. But Jodie could tell, somehow: that was Aiden's work.

Jodie nodded, before sitting up. Kalo gently released her, Jodie rubbing her eyes. "You're right..." she said. She then breathed in, her eyebrows furrowing as she looked back up at everyone around her. "Chances are, they've captured him, looking for intelligence about us. I don't know if that's true, but I really hope it is."

Jodie then stood up, walking to the door. "It's my fault he's in this situation," she said, looking at them as Kalo stood up. "That means  _I_  need to get him out of there."

Sura then smiled. "That's the spirit," the asari replied. "We'll get him out of this."

"Yeah," said Jodie. "If we play our cards right... We'll get him out."

She then looked right at the door. "But first, we have answers we need to get. We're not going to save him without knowing anything, you know."


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!
> 
> Just a quick note up here. Since the aquerons have been around a bit... well, I thought I'd link you guys to concept art of these guys that I've had in the backburner. Well, it's not art I've drawn (trust me, I'm a shit artist), but it's a piece of art I commissioned from Pac on FurAffinity. So take a look: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/15517481/
> 
> Anyway, here's this chapter. Hope you guys enjoy!

"What do you know about where they would take him?"

The aqueron remained silent, keeping his gaze turned to the wall. Jodie knelt in front of him, looking at the aqueron in silence. Jodie held her hands together in front of her, all the others in the room standing further back to give Jodie some space. Everyone stood there, and as Jodie glanced behind her she could see Kalo nodding encouragingly. Valentine and Sura simply looked on indifferently, while Kasumi and Ashley both watched intently, Legion standing just behind them.

But even with the added space, Jodie felt claustrophobic next to him.

She shivered, looking to the side. "Look..." She shook her head. "I know this is probably very far from what you thought would happen, but we humans... we care about others a lot more than you might think. And Xerxes..." Jodie rubbed her arm. "He's my friend. He helped me when nobody else would, even though he never knew my name. Gave me a translator, helped me find housing, helped when I was lost. He didn't need to, and yet he did it anyway. Guys like that..." She shook her head, closing her eyes. No tears flowed, but she did release a rather heavy sigh. "I know you've got a lot on your mind now, but I need to save him. I need to help him. Do you know  _anything_ about where they might've taken him?"

The aqueron remained silent. He kept his gaze steady on the wall, though Jodie sensed that it was not out of anger and more out of something else. The aqueron also displayed his hands, Jodie noticing that they remained still. The aqueron simply spent the time in silence, Jodie glancing down at the floor as the seconds ticked by.

Finally, she swallowed. "Please," she said.

The aqueron said nothing.

Jodie sighed, shaking her head as she began to stand up. "I guess we'll have to-"

"If I tell you where he may have gone, I can be tried for treason."

Jodie paused, looking at the aqueron. After a few seconds, she knelt back down, looking at the aqueron as he remained facing the wall. "Treason?" she asked.

"All paths lead home." The aqueron turned slightly. "We never hold our prisoners here."

"You don't?" asked Jodie.

Valentine shifted. "Makes sense, if you ask me," he said. He then leaned against the wall. "If they know about you, they already know too much. Where else are they going to hold them but unfamiliar territory?"

"Yes," said the aqueron. "All roads lead back to the wormhole. If that were to happen..." He shook his head again. "I cannot let the Great Purge happen again."

Jodie blinked, looking at the others. "The Great Purge?" she asked.

"I don't like the sound of that," Kasumi said.

"You should not," the aqueron whispered. "It is what describes what your asari friend saw." He shook his head. "We cannot risk that event happening again."

"Hm, sounds like more incriminating evidence to me," said Sura. "You know. 'Anything you say can and will be used against you', and all that."

Jodie nodded, before leaning closer. "You don't really mean to defend them now, do you?" she asked.

"Why not?" asked the aqueron. "You are all complicit in the Great Purge."

"How can we be complicit in something if we didn't even know it happened?" Jodie asked.

The aqueron remained silent. "I..."

"Think about it," said Sura. "You can't really think we'd do the same thing again. We don't know you: if we'd known you'd existed, we'd have gone through a formal process of establishing first contact."

"That is what Cerberus did," the aqueron replied. "They came to us, claiming peace. And then, they destroyed us."

"The Council isn't the same way," said Jodie. She shook her head. "Look, I know you probably don't believe us, but think about it. We wouldn't  _get_ anything from trying to repeat this Great Purge. Even if we did know about you, why do you think we'd do that? What  _point_ would it serve to try to obliterate another race?"

The aqueron paused, his gaze still turned away.

Finally, Ashley sighed, stepping forward so she knelt next to Jodie. "The Council isn't exactly the best bunch of people," Ashley replied. "Trust me, they nearly fucked the galaxy over by grounding the Normandy when we should've gone after Saren. But there are many things they're not; a group of genocidal maniacs is one of those things. You don't have a good reason to keep anything secret."

"You could still undermine my government yourself," said the aqueron.

"And isn't there something fishy about the way it's been giving you information?" Jodie asked. "Whatever they've told you about us... most of it is lies, isn't it?"

The aqueron paused, finally turning to look at Jodie. "You are all... strange..." he said. "There is a spirit-touched among you, and none of you are the barbarians you are painted as..."

"I can see that..." the aqueron said. He then turned to the floor, his gaze intent on Jodie's feet. "But still." He paused, the silence stretching across several seconds. "If I tell you..." He took a deep breath in. "I am... afraid."

"Hey, you're crossing the Rubicon here," said Valentine. "I don't blame you."

The aqueron turned to Valentine, his head tilted to the side in confusion. "Rubicon?" he asked.

Legion's head plates tilted forward. "Crossing the Rubicon," the geth repeated. "Refers to the crossing of the Rubicon River by Julius Caesar in human year 49 B.C.E. In common usage, denotes a point of no return."

Ashley turned to face Legion, leaning back as she did. "You logged that one?" she asked.

"We are always compiling data," Legion replied. "Is Williams-Chief surprised?"

"I..." Ashley frowned. "Well, you  _did_ compile the King James Bible, but I didn't think you'd know that phrase."

The aqueron nodded. "Crossing the Rubicon..." he said. He snorted derisively, but Jodie could see in the way the aqueron's eyes shined that the snort was more out of habit than anything else. "As much as I wish not to admit it, I can't help but say it  _is_ rather apt." He looked up. "I have seen many things since I came to this galaxy. I have never spoken with others, nor have I ever seen that much." He then looked directly at Jodie, his eyes narowing slightly. "Spirit-touched, tell me something: have you not been singled out through your life?"

Everyone blinked, turning to Jodie. As soon as Jodie frowned, their attention turned back to the aqueron.

"What kind of question is that?" asked Sura.

"A valid one," said the aqueron. "It is true that there are no spirit-touched in this galaxy aside from her, no?"

Kalo paused, the quarian leaning back as his hand stroked the underside of his mask. "That much is true, actually..." he said. He then looked over at Valentine. "No one else that we know of."

"And we certainly wouldn't study that," said Valentine. He crossed his arms. "So even if there was, we don't know they're out there."

The aqueron nodded, turning to Jodie. "Then it must have been a lonely existence, not knowing what you are and knowing always that you were an outsider," he said.

Jodie sighed. "I've always known that Aiden is a spirit attached to me. But beyond that, I'm not sure what else he is." She closed her eyes, memories of past events coming to mind in almost vivid detail as she nodded. "But you're right. I was always an outsider." She closed her eyes, placing her hands on her knees. "For as long as I can remember, I've always wanted to be like other girls. I always wanted to be normal."

The aqueron nodded, closing his eyes as he bowed his head forward. "The articians have a saying about their spirit-touched," he said. "It is not you that chooses the spirit, but the spirit that chooses you. And when the spirit chooses you, you are capable of great things."

Jodie shook her head, her eyes closing as old memories of things she'd rather not remember flooded back to her mind. "It hasn't always felt that way," she said.

"That is a shame," the aqueron replied. He shifted, opening his eyes and looking right at Jodie. "Why are you here? Are you here to commit subterfuge against us?"

Jodie opened her eyes, her eyebrows furrowing as she leaned closer to the aqueron. "Why subterfuge?" asked Jodie.

"You must admit, it is alarming to me that you discovered us and intruded on our attempt to get Shepard's body back," the aqueron replied. "How can I trust that you have the best intent in mind for my galaxy as well as yours?"

Jodie bit her lower lip, her brows furrowing a little further. "Do you know how suspicious it looks to me when you slowly start to find out that the man you thought was noble isn't such a noble man?" she asked. "I discovered who Shepard was. I saw past the disguise he put up." She shook her head. "Imagine if I went to your galaxy, impersonated an artician, and used that to become... a  _prince_ , or whatever."

"Princess," the aqueron replied.

"The point remains the same," said Jodie. "Wouldn't that look unsettling to you too?"

The aqueron tilted his head down towards the floor. "We are only defending our home," he said.

"Shepard pretended to be a human for most of his life," Jodie replied. "You'll have to forgive me for taking that with a grain of salt." She shook her head. "I'm worried for everyone in this galaxy, and Shepard's actions give me reason to doubt whether he's really got this galaxy's best interests in mind. And if they're not for the best interests of everyone here... I'm going to stop it. Plain and simple."

The aqueron smiled ruefully. "You sound just like Shepard," he observed. "Always willing to do whatever it took to defend others, despite what I imagine must have been subpar treatment by others."

Jodie released a dry chuckle. "You have no idea how many people used me to do their dirty work," she said.

"And yet, here you are," said the aqueron. He paused. "You humans surprise me."

"We can do that," said Valentine. "We still can't figure out how to flip a pancake, though."

Kasumi looked over at Valentine. "I can," she said. "Just light wrist motions!"

"Because  _that's_ easy," said Valentine, raising his head for a second as he spoke.

The aqueron paused, before looking at Jodie. "You say nothing about your actions once you discover why we are here," he said.

Jodie nodded. "I can't promise that your galaxy won't face the music," said Jodie. "Your leader impersonated one of us, stole some of our greatest accomplishments, technically committed a war crime... And then there's everything we don't know yet." She shook her head. "His actions paint all of you as invaders."

The aqueron blinked. "They do?" he asked.

"Yeah." Jodie sighed. "Even knowing that Cerberus killed a lot of people in your galaxy, I don't think they'll take too kindly to how you decided to deal with that." She shook her head, sitting back and placing her arms on her knees. "Given what we have here, I can't guarantee anything."

The aqueron paused, his gaze turned to the floor. He then frowned, looking up at Jodie. "You are wrong," said the aqueron. "There is one thing you can guarantee will not happen."

Jodie quirked one of her eyebrows, leaning closer to the aqueron. "And what's that?" she asked.

"You can guarantee that the Great Purge will not be repeated." The aqueron shifted his position, looking down at the floor. "That is our greatest worry. If I am to tell you what you wish to know, I must have at least the guarantee that you will not commit genocide on my galaxy."

Jodie blinked. "I... I see..." She paused, glancing down to the side.

Ashley turned to Jodie, tapping her foot impatiently as she crossed her arms. "These guys seriously think we'd do the same thing Cerberus did?"

"Wow," said Valentine, adjusting his shades on his face. "Talk about irrational fears."

"Yeah." Jodie swallowed, exhaling. She then turned her attention back to the aqueron, gently placing a hand on his shoulder. The aqueron flinched at the touch, but Jodie's hand remained in place. "You're probably right. I  _can_ likely guarantee that much."

The aqueron swallowed. "I am so uncertain about this..." he said. "Even with that guarantee..."

He closed his eyes, taking a shaky breath in. Jodie thought she saw motion behind the aqueron's back, but the motion ceased and he remained quiet for a few seconds. All eyes remained on him, the aqueron's jaw quivering as he visibly tried to steady his breathing.

Finally, the aqueron exhaled. "Gods help me..." he whispered. He then opened his eyes, his gaze turned to Jodie. "If you wish to rescue your friend... There are many waypoints we have set up in this galaxy. Think of them as bases of operation."

"The information network..." Jodie whispered, removing her hand from the aqueron's shoulder.

"Yes," said the aqueron. "Your friend will likely be juggled across all of those waypoints so anyone who is on his trail will lose it. Once they are certain his trail has been lost, they will take him to our galaxy." He then looked up at the ceiling. "By now, they would be ferrying him to the first waypoint. If you hurry, you may be able to catch him."

"Where would this waypoint be?" asked Valentine.

"Truly, I do not know." The aqueron frowned. "I know that even without my capture, they never set a pattern to it."

Sura nodded. "I guess that makes sense," said Sura.

"Yeah," Valentine nodded, taking his sunglasses off and wiping them on his shirt. "I mean, what use would that strategy be if you gave them a pattern you could trace?"

"Exactly," said the aqueron. "However, if I give you the location to one waypoint, you can hope he'll pass through it." He bit his lip. "I can't guarantee he will. But if he is not there, you will need to get information, and lots of it." He then looked up. "If we're too late, they'll speed the process up, and he'll be in the parallel galaxy. And if that happens... the waypoints will tell you how to get into my galaxy."

"Alert: this platform is aware of wormhole's location," Legion added.

"Knowing where the wormhole is would be the least of our problems," said the aqueron. "There is always a patrol on the other side of the wormhole. It monitors that wormhole, looking for any that stray into it. All entrants must say that password I mentioned: it is how we identify ourselves."

"So we have to say that password and they'll think we're related to them," said Valentine. "And if we steal their ships?"

"It will be better, but they are prepared for the possibility that someone has stolen a ship," said the aqueron.

It was then that Kalo stepped forward, his foot sliding against the floor. "What happens to the ones that do not say it?"

"We take them prisoner," said the aqueron.

Sura frowned. "You take them prisoner for simply making a wrong turn?" she asked. "Isn't that a bit excessive?"

"No," the aqueron replied. "They know too much, therefore they must not be allowed to return."

Jodie bristled, her brows furrowing. "You're racking up counts on the reasons we shouldn't trust your galaxy, you know," she said.

"Perhaps," said the aqueron, Jodie noticing a light sheen on his scales. "That is not important now. The only way to know the password for certain is to check that waypoint."

Jodie blinked. "And we could find more intel on what you want from us," she said.

"Perhaps," said the aqueron. "But to save your friend, you may have to go there."

"Where's the nearest waypoint to here?" Valentine asked.

The aqueron nodded, his breathing becoming ever so slightly more audible. "We placed it deep on a homeworld of a race with Council connections," he said. "Very few would think to check there."

"Where?" asked Sura, leaning forward insistently.

The aqueron looked up. His eyes were wide with fear, right before he squeezed his eyes shut.

The next word out of his mouth took a second attempt to come out.

"Kahje."

* * *

"The hanar homeworld?"

"Looks like it."

Jodie nodded, looking as Valentine started up the launch procedures. Everyone was crowded around him in the cockpit, with the exception of Legion. The others looked down at Valentine.

"It's not that far from here," said Sura. "If we hurry, we might be able to get there and get him out of there."

"And if we don't?" asked Ashley.

Kasumi sighed. "We have to hope for the best, right?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Valentine. He then looked over at Kalo. "You know the location of this waypoint, right?"

"Yes," said Kalo. He opened his omni-tool. "I hope he gave the right place."

"He knows I can pluck it out of his mind at any time," Sura replied. "He's not gonna lie about that. And if he did, I'm marching straight back to this ship and getting him to tell us the truth." She sighed, shaking her head. "We need to get him out of there. He's not really a combatant."

"Eh... I've seen him do interesting things," said Kasumi.

Sura frowned. "Interesting things?" she asked.

"Hey, you've got to stay on your toes in his old line of work," Kasumi replied, turning around to Sura. "My feeling is, he gave them a fight. That turian's got a fire in him. One of the reasons I liked working with him."

The asari's frown deepened, and she turned away. "He's not that type," she said.

"Not now, he isn't," Kasumi replied. "But you don't forget some things, trust me."

Sura shook her head. "I'm going to go read a bit," she said, walking straight for the door of the cockpit. "Let me know when we're close."

Valentine nodded. "You got it." He then looked to the others, smiling. "I got this. You all head back to your stations and do what you can to prepare."

Jodie patted the pilot's chair. "Get us there in one piece," she said. "We're on a rescue mission now, in addition to our information-gathering."

"Yeah," said Valentine. "I got you."

And with this, Jodie and the others vacated the cockpit, letting Valentine do his work.

* * *

Jodie stood at the table, Legion standing on the other end. Kalo was preparing his own weapons next to Jodie, and the quarian found himself looking at the aqueron as he sat in the corner.

"Does Holmes-Anomaly require our presence on Kahje?" asked Legion.

Kalo shook his head. "You will only cause a disturbance," said the quarian.

Jodie closed her eyes, sighing in regret. "As much as I want to say otherwise, he's right," Jodie replied. "Especially so soon after yo-... the  _heretic_ geth attacked the Citadel." She then gestured at the aqueron. "Besides, we need someone to watch him."

"Affirmative," said Legion. The geth then paused, looking at the aqueron. "I detect a slightly elevated heart rate from the aqueron."

Jodie paused, turning to Kalo. "I think..." The quarian then leaned forward, taking his knife from the ankle sheath and placing it on the counter before he walked to the aqueron. He knelt before him, gazing at him intently. "Are you stressed?"

"I just betrayed my galaxy," said the aqueron. "I betrayed my home... And I don't know how to feel... I just feel like I may have made a horrible mistake."

Kalo nodded, Jodie noticing the lights disappearing behind Kalo's face mask. "I do not blame you," he said. "It is a very...  _difficult_ thing, betraying a group you grew up with."

The aqueron nodded. "It is," he replied. He blinked, Jodie noticing a little moisture gathering in his eye. "I fear, too, what may happen now. It's only just..." He paused. "We're in a fine mess now, aren't we? On the track we're on... You really think it will come down to war?"

"Perhaps," Kalo replied, bowing his head forward. "Perhaps." He then rose his head, shifting so he was sitting next to the aqueron. "It is too early to tell, though. Perhaps we can fix it."

The aqueron blinked, looking up at the quarian. "So do you really think people can fix this mess?"

"I do not know for sure," said Kalo. "But what I do know, is that it is never naïve to hope. We can always hope for a solution. Maybe there is a way we can fix this."

The aqueron chuckled. "Such an optimist," he said. "It will get you killed."

Jodie could see the shine of a smile from behind the face mask, and she saw that it was a small one as Kalo glanced at her. "It has given me invaluable allies," Kalo replied. "Allies who have helped me in more ways than I could ever have dreamed." He turned back to the aqueron. "I may be a pariah to the galaxy, but there is no use moping about it, is there? You have to soldier on."

The aqueron frowned, but Jodie could see an amused smile come from the aqueron. "You quarians are much more fascinating in the flesh," he admitted. He then shifted his position. "Such words from a race that has been wronged so horribly by the Council."

"Not all share my view," said Kalo. "No entire species can. But I hold it." He bowed his head. "We have nothing, if not that."

"And a lot of resourcefulness," Jodie added.

The aqueron nodded. Jodie turned, looking at Legion as he stood stock still. She noticed his head plates tilting forward, but otherwise the geth remained silent.

Jodie shrugged, turning back to her weapon. "Let's get ready," she said. "We've got to prepare."

Kalo nodded, standing up. "Of course," he said. He then walked back to the table, continuing to prepare himself.

* * *

Within a few hours, the Lying Bastard was flying into the Kahje airspace. Jodie had stepped into the cockpit by then, wearing a suit designed for stealth operations. Over it, she had some civilian clothes on, something that Jodie felt was at least something of a mistake. However, she knew that getting through Kahje's civilian population would be difficult otherwise, so she went with it.

Beside her, Kasumi, Kalo, Sura, and Ashley were all suited up. They were as prepared as she was, and all were left to glance out of the window.

And then, they broke the cloud line, and what they saw there was immense.

"Wow..." said Jodie.

They looked upon a vast ocean, the vessel rapidly hurtling towards the waters. Jodie watched as rain hit the window, but the droplets of rain on the Lying Bastard's window did nothing to diminish the vastness of the sea beneath. Off to the side, Jodie thought she could see an island full of lush greenery, but it vanished from view before she could take it in.

"Well, there it is," said Valentine. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Kahje."

"Wow..." said Jodie as she leaned over. Aiden trilled in amazement. "This is..."

"I know, right?" Valentine asked.

"Oceans as far as the eye can see..." Kalo said softly.

The group said nothing. However, it was then that Jodie noticed that the ship was angling towards the water. She then leaned forward, her eyes narrowing.

"Valentine?" she asked. "Why are we going towards the water?"

"You didn't think this thing was made just for space travel, did you?" asked Valentine. "Hanar vessels are designed to go in water, too. In fact, on Kahje, if you can dock, you either dock at a port up in space and take an elevator down, or you dock underwater." Valentine then turned his attention back to the waters. "And in our case, his information pits this waypoint somewhere in an underwater city. Not common on Kahje, but they've got one hell of a great climate control inside. Other species tend to flock to those places." Valentine turned to the rain. "It always rains on Kahje."

"Moistest planet in the galaxy," Sura said. She nodded. "I wonder how the hanar manage to avoid getting struck by the docking ships."

"The hanar live in the water?" asked Jodie.

Sura smiled. "And they look more natural in it than anywhere else," she said. "Just watch. It'll be like nothing you've ever seen."

And with this, Jodie turned back, just in time to brace herself. The Lying Bastard dove right into the water, Jodie feeling a slight tremble around her as the vessel parted the waters. Before long, Jodie saw the vessel dip under the water, and the Lying Bastard resumed its journey under the waters. Jodie looked out of the window, her hand pressing against the glass.

And it was then that she saw the first of a very bright series of lights. As the Lying Bastard submerged in the water, she saw a trail of odd blue light dancing about. As soon as her sight got adjusted to the decreased light under the water, though, she also saw a body, from which the light emanated. It danced around in the water, almost like it was doing a ballet. And the way the colors shone in the darkening ocean, the way they flowed.

Aiden could only trill quietly, Jodie's jaw dropping as she then saw several more forms of colored light.

"Wow..." Jodie said. She turned to the others. "Have you ever seen anything like this...?"

"No," said Ashley as she leaned forward.

"It is so..." Kalo paused. "I never thought I would see such a thing..."

Jodie nodded, breaking out into a smile. "I haven't seen anything like it," she said. "It's so beautiful..."

"Sometimes they make a show for the tourists," said Valentine. "It's not surprising. You think of them on land, and you  _don't_ expect this. Makes a great case for tourism." He then turned his attention back to the controls. "Don't let them distract you, though. We're on a rescue mission."

"Right," said Jodie, who had to tear her gaze away from the dancing lights. "So where do we go?"

"He said that the exact location of the waypoint may have changed after his capture," said Valentine. "However, he knows the last location the waypoint was at." Valentine then turned. "He told me one of those spirit-touched abilities you have is to get visions from somewhere, right?"

Jodie nodded. "It is, yeah," she said. "So we go over there, scan it, and figure out where they've gone?"

"Something like that," said Valentine. He then turned to Jodie. "Just don't go towards the light, Carol Anne."

Jodie pursed her lips, shaking her head as she looked away. "That won't be a problem," she said.

And with this, Jodie saw the first lights of the underwater city come into view.

* * *

The walk inside the city had been absolutely breathtaking. Jodie could see some establishments with proper walls, but most of the city was contained in heavy glass. The glass looked out to the water, where Jodie saw the bioluminescent hanar floating about as if they were dancing in the water.

Of course, she knew she had no time to enjoy the scenery. Xerxes' life was on the line, after all.

And it was thus that Jodie's group came out to what looked like an abandoned building. The walls inside were made of some material Jodie could not really see. However, the material was opaque, and from what Jodie saw there were no windows inside the complex, and while it looked abandoned it oddly did not look like it had fallen into disrepair.

Thus, when they went inside, they found it was empty, exactly as the aqueron had said they would find it. Of course, the room was rather large and expansive, which set off a few alarms in Jodie's mind. She turned her omni-tool's flashlight, flashing it in the corners before sighing in relief at finding nobody there. She then nodded, keeping the omni-tool's flashlight on as she walked around the room.

"It's clear."

As soon as Jodie said this, the others filed into the room behind her. "Just like ghostie said," Sura noted.

Kasumi materialized in the air right by one of the walls. "Hey, what can I say?" she asked. "I'm nothing if not honest."

"I wasn't disputing that," said Sura. "I just didn't think a file thief would go there."

"Focus," Ashley said immediately. She then looked around the room, turning to Jodie. "So what are we looking for?"

"Anything we can find," said Jodie. "And it can be  _anything_. If it was left behind by them or a marking left by them, Aiden can use that."

Kalo nodded, getting on his knees and inspecting the floor. "Even a marking on the floor?" he asked.

"Even that." Jodie then flashed the flashlight. "I got the vision about Shepard from a bloodstain he hadn't fully cleaned."

Ashley blinked, turning to Jodie as she walked up to the wall. "Do I want to know?" she asked.

"Balak vomited blood after what Shepard did to him," Jodie replied.

"Well, I guess I know what I'm looking forward to if I ever get caught by them," Kasumi commented. She then leaned forward. "Hm... And what about this?"

Jodie turned in time to see Kasumi lift a small piece of cloth. It was cloth of a strange material Jodie did not recognize, the blue object seeming almost unnoticeable in the lighting of the room.

Jodie frowned, walking up to it and analyzing the piece. "Hm..." She then looked up.

Aiden chirped a few times, to which Jodie nodded. "He sees something he can use in here," Jodie said. She then felt the world begin to pull, breathing in as she braced herself for whatever vision she would see.

_And when Jodie blinked, the colors were sapped out of the world._

_"He is dead!"_

_Jodie whirled around, seeing two humanoids and a fellow aqueron. Jodie noticed how different the aqueron's scales were colored from the one they had prisoner, before she looked around at one of the humanoids._

_The first one wore sunglasses, though she could notice the faint aura of light coming from behind them. As Jodie approached, he scoffed, brushing some hair out of the way. It was difficult to tell from the vision, but it seemed almost_ too  _natural to be real, in a sense. He also seemed to move just a little strangely, Jodie noticing that his pinkie twitched unnaturally._

_The other one, of course, seemed a bit more natural. He looked almost exactly like a human, with a scar on his chin and rugged features. Jodie could not make out much else without color, but what she gave her reason to pause._ _This human one in front of a terminal, looking over information with narrowed eyes._

_She made a mental note to check the far end of the room where the terminal was placed, before looking over at the other human-looking alien where he sat at a desk. He held a datapad in his hand, and as soon as he heard the news he turned towards the aqueron._

_"Are you certain?" he said._

_"I just received a transmission from high command," said the aqueron. "Jon'ison Shardan is dead..."_

_"That is impossible!" The humanoid standing at the terminal turned, revealing glowing eyes. Jodie stepped back as the glowy eyed man walked right through her. Jodie turned immediately, seeing the aqueron get pushed to the wall. "He would_ never  _die! Not before we need him to!"_

_"I am afraid it has happened..." the aqueron sighed. "At any rate, they will go to recover the body soon."_

_The other humanoid (the actual artician, Jodie assumed) fell to the floor, kneeling as he dropped the datapad. "This is... He's actually dead... How is this possible?"_

_The aqueron turned to the artician, patting him on the shoulder. "Peace, brother," he said. "We will fix this."_

And before Jodie could process anything else, the vision dissipated around her, the empty room coming back into focus.

"Anything?" asked Kasumi.

"Just a vision about what they saw when Shepard died," she said. "I didn't stay long enough to see how bad their reaction was."

"Hm." Sura leaned against the wall. "Anything useful?"

"Maybe," said Jodie, walking to the far end of the room where the terminal had been situated in the vision. She turned her omni-tool flash-light back on, noticing a deep gash in the wall.

"From where a piece of electronics could have been scratched against the wall," she muttered, her hand brushing it.

"Jodie?" Ashley asked.

"There was a terminal here," she said. She then exhaled, feeling the inexorable pull of Aiden grabbing onto another vision. "Something they would've had to hurriedly pack up and leave after what we did." She then closed her eyes. "Give me just a second..."

_And then, Jodie opened her eyes, the world going back into monochrome. She stood up, stepping back and looking at the terminal._

_"We have to go!"_

_She heard a loud screech as soon as the artician from earlier came into view. He pulled the terminal away with his bare arms, Jodie seeing the mark that was left behind. She turned, her eyes widening as she saw the artician carry the very heavy terminal as if it weighed nothing._

_The aqueron nodded, packing up whatever he could. "Leave no trace," he said. "We do not want anyone to find us."_

_"They cannot think to follow us here," said the artician._

_"But we have to make sure they don't find anything," said the man with the shining eyes. He then grabbed some sunglasses. "If we leave anything behind, who knows what will become of the Project?"_

_The artician remained silent, nodded. "Yes, true," he said. "If anyone here finds out about the Project, our plans are doomed... The Project cannot be stopped."_

_"And we must keep going," he said. "Come on. We have our assignment in that apartment building."_

_"Indeed," said said the aqueron. "To the Dances With Currents Tower?"_

_The artician nodded. "They'll never think to find us there," he said. "Residential places tend to do that."_

_"Yes," said the man with the glowing eyes. "We will lay low there. They won't find us._ _"_

_The aqueron nodded. "Come," he said. "Let's go."_

Jodie then blinked, color returning to the world. She then looked back at the empty space where the terminal once stood, before standing right back up.

"They're in the Dances With Currents Tower," she said.

Sura blinked. "Damn, you work  _fast_ ," she said. "I know a bunch of detectives who would be jealous of you."

"Thank Aiden for that," she said. She then nodded to the others. "Where is that?"

"It's somewhere in the upper class district," said Kasumi, opening her omni-tool.

"The upper class district?" asked Ashley. She then looked over at Kalo. "I hope bringing him along won't be an issue."

"That won't be a problem," Sura replied. "Most hanar I know are pretty decent to quarians."

"Then hopefully I will be permitted entrance," Kalo said. He then looked at Jodie. "Did you see anything else in there?"

Jodie nodded. "They talked about some... Project," she said. "One that we apparently can't stop or they'll lose something."

Sura nodded, opening her omni-tool. "We can always ask our aqueron friend about that," she said. "Chances are, he knows what it is."

"We'll see," said Jodie. "For now... do you know what we're dealing with in there?"

"Probably a lot of civilians," said Sura. She shook her head, looking at the information a quick omni-tool search pulled up. "We better get moving. We're not going to know that for sure unless we get over there now and scout the place out."

"Yeah," said Kasumi. "I get to search the place once we're there."

Jodie shook her head. "Just be careful." She sighed. "Come on, let's go."

And with this, the group filed out of the room with a quickened step.

* * *

The Dances With Currents Tower was nothing if not aptly named: after all, that building turned out to have one face inside of the ocean. Jodie looked up at the building in question, seeing the blue facade of the building and how it contrasted with everything. It even seemed to extend up into the level on the city above them, Jodie shaking her head.

"How the hell did they build this city, again?" Jodie asked.

Her comm unit crackled to life. " _You gotta hand it to the hanar, they're resourceful bastards,_ " said Valentine. " _Even more than you might think, actually._ "

"Yeah, that's turning out to be the case here," Jodie said. She glanced around, seeing other things that could count as edifices in the underwater city. She also turned, looking to the surprisingly high amount of drell in the area. "I'm wondering about all the drell around here. Isn't there some kind of disease they can get from too much humidity?"

"It's climate controlled down here," said Sura. "And even if it weren't for that... the drell have a debt to the hanar."

Jodie nodded. "I see..." she said. "I've heard what happened when the hanar made contact with the drell. It sounds like such a sad story..."

"Yeah," Ashley said. "And now they're all stuck here."

"Yeah." Jodie paused, looking back up at the building. She sighed, rubbing her chin. "When's Kasumi going to be done?"

"It is a large building," Kalo observed. "She may have to go through quite a few rooms."

" _And she has the added bonus of doing it without being seen,_ " said Valentine. " _At least there are no explosives involved. With that, we don't have to worry about seeing something completely different._ "

"True..." said Jodie.

As they waited, Jodie glanced about the area again. The residential area they were in was bustling with all sorts of life. Hanar and drell alike milled about, some shopping at the stalls that were liberally scattered about. She saw a few other species scattered about, but they were mostly asari and humans. She sighed, looking up at the large body of water visible just past a large glass. The water was backlit by a network of lamps scattered about the actual city, but through it all Jodie could still see faint glimmers of the hanar's natural bio-luminescence. They streaked about flittingly.

Jodie sighed, pulling her legs up. "It's haunting to see the hanar in the water," she said. "It's... I haven't seen anything like it since the last time I saw an entity underwater."

Ashley turned to Jodie, frowning. "You had to fight entities underwater?"

Jodie nodded, pouting. "One mission I was in took us to an underwater base," she said. "They were researching the Infraworld too, and they'd opened another condenser, so I was called in to stop it. The condenser they used to access the Infraworld was in the ocean itself. That was...  _scary_."

"You had to run from it," said Ashley.

"While weighed down by a pressurized suit," Jodie replied. She shivered, her muscles momentarily aching from the memory. "That was  _not_ fun."

"I can't imagine it was," said Sura. She then looked out, pointing at the hanar. "And it looked like this, hm?"

"This is better," Jodie replied. "Entities can be...  _dangerous_. The hanar aren't." She then leaned forward. "It helps that the hanar are colorful." She smiled. "I don't know how I got here, but I'm glad I did."

"You don't know how you got here?" Ashley asked.

"It wasn't clear when I looked into her memories," Sura said. She then frowned. "That black hole thing you were going into, though... that was the result of one of those condensers?"

"Yes," Jodie replied. She looked up. "I'm glad they don't seem to have any here. That wouldn't be good for-"

" _Jodie, I think I found it!_ "

All four of them blinked, looking over at Jodie. After a second, she stood up, bringing a hand to her ear. "Kasumi!" she said. "Where is it?"

" _On the side facing the water,_ " said Kasumi. " _They're still in there, though..._ "

Kalo turned his attention to the civilians around them. "We just need the data, no?" he asked.

" _Yeah,_ " said Kasumi. " _Problem is, even a master hacker can't access their terminals if they're right next to them. They'll know I've accessed them immediately!_ "

Jodie sighed, nodding. "Okay, so we need to distract them..." She looked up at Aiden, before turning to the others. "And just how are we going to do that?"

In the brief pause that followed, Jodie could only imagine the size of Kasumi's grin. " _Just follow my lead_."

Jodie paused, looking over at the others; she felt her skin tingle as a sense of unease filled her. She then looked back at the building, breathing in nervously.

"Kasumi?" Jodie asked. "What are you doing?"

The line went silent for a few seconds, and then after a brief time, Jodie heard the line cut from Kasumi's end. Her omni-tool then pinged, and Jodie looked down to see a message from Kasumi. She opened it, holding her arm out to the others so they could read it as well:

" _It's on the third floor, middle apartment facing the ocean. Doesn't look like Xerxes is here. Get in, get what you can._ "

Jodie sighed, closing her eyes. "Damn," she said.

"You had to expect that would've happened," Sura pointed out.

Jodie nodded bitterly. "That doesn't make it better," she said. She shook her head, rubbing the bridge of her nose in disappointment. "Shit. Now we're going to have to go over there."

"Indeed," said Kalo. He then looked up. "I wonder why Kasumi told us to follow..."

Kalo stopped, right as the group noticed a commotion right at the front of the building. The group then noticed that someone was running with something in their hand, two other figures following and shouting at that person They gave chase, Jodie and the others watching as they retreated, civilians stopping to look at them. And as the figures moved a little closer, Jodie thought she saw the familiar hood.

"Kasumi?" she asked.

Sura immediately facepalmed, growling. "Goddess, she can't resist even while we're on assignment?" Sura asked, her voice strained.

"We're supposed to not be noticed!" said Ashley. "How is that supposed to-"

"Wait." Jodie held her hand up, looking at the two that followed Kasumi. She then pointed, her eyes widening in surprise as the vision Aiden had shown her at the warehouse came back into the forefront. The features on the two men following her seemed familiar, and after a few seconds...

"Those two..." she said. "They were there..."

Kalo turned to Jodie. "In the vision?" he asked.

"Yes..." She then breathed in sharply. "She found the right room."

"Wait..." Ashley's eyes widened. "So she  _is_ trying to call attention to herself!"

Sura chuckled. "Well, I guess that's  _one_ way to distract them," she said. "They don't think she'd actually be stupid enough to let them catch her, do they?"

"No, but it'll keep them away," Jodie said. She then turned to Sura. "And that's better than anything we've got right now." She then shook her head. "We've got to get going. We're probably not going to have long to work. Kalo, you're with me. Sura, Ashley, I need you to stay here and let me know if those two come back."

"And if Kasumi comes back first?" Ashley asks.

"Then let me know about that too." She then turned to Kalo, nodding as she took a step towards the entrance. "Come on. Let's go. We probably won't have a lot of time."

"Of course, Jodie," said Kalo. He then nodded, and the two of them walked briskly but casually to the entrance of the Dances With Currents Tower.

* * *

Jodie and Kalo walked over to the door, Jodie nodding as she took a deep breath. The holographic door panel was red, and it looked about as unremarkable as any other door. Still, Jodie felt a strange sense of anticipation looking at it as she fixed her helmet on her head.

"This must be it," said Kalo. He then opened the omni-tool. "I suppose we will-"

But as Kalo approached the door, Jodie grabbed his arm, pulling him back. She shook her head, looking at the door.

"Jodie?" Kalo asked.

"There were three people in the vision," Jodie replied. "There were only two that were chasing Kasumi. One of them's still in there."

Kalo blinked; after a few seconds he closed his omni-tool. "Oh," said the quarian. He then looked at Jodie. "So how do we enter?"

Jodie smiled. "I thought you'd never ask," she said, looking at where she assumed Aiden was. "Aiden, find the guy in there and get him to let us in."

Aiden chirped, and then Jodie leaned against the wall. Her attention turned to all the apartments around them, at the silence in the halls. She then sighed, crossing her arms.

"They're right, you know," Jodie said. "You'd never think to check a residential area like this."

"I suppose so," said Kalo. "Do they frequently do this?"

Jodie chuckled. "It'd be easier to ask when they  _don't_ ," Jodie replied. "The world of espionage is crazy."

"You lived it," said Kalo.

"Yeah," Jodie said. She sighed. "Sometimes I wish I didn't. It's just another reminder of the things I did I'm not proud of."

Jodie could see Kalo give her a hopeful smile. "Well, for what it is worth, perhaps it is not such a bad thing," said Kalo. "It seems to aid you quite a bit here."

Jodie chuckled, giving Kalo a sad smile. "That's mostly Aiden doing the talking," she said.

"Perhaps," said Kalo. "But I think it would help you considerably to know how they think."

Jodie blinked, looking down the hall. "That's true, I guess..." she said. She sighed. "Still, I guess it's good we're here." She then paused, before shifting her weight on her feet. "When will Aiden have-"

And then, the door panel turned green. After a split second, the door slid open, an aqueron attending it. Jodie nodded, Kalo stepping back as he noticed that the aqueron's eyes were rolled into the back of his head. Kalo turned to Jodie as the aqueron stepped back, Jodie walking into the doorway.

Jodie nodded, looking to Kalo as she pulled some latex gloves out of one of her pockets. "Come on," she said. "Oh, and don't touch him, whatever you do. It'll break the hold Aiden has on him."

Kalo's shoulders stiffened, and then he rushed in after Jodie. "That is Aiden's work?"

"Yes," said Jodie. "He can possess people."

"Oh..." Kalo paused, the door closing behind him. They then looked into the central room. It was small, with typical living room furnishments. A terminal sat off to the far wall, and in front of them they saw a vast window looking out into the ocean. The bio-luminescence of the hanar was faintly visible, but the water had darkened a little since the group had entered. Jodie assumed this was due to the sunlight, and sighed as she turned to Kalo.

The quarian shook his head, his attention turning to the terminal. "Right. Of course. We should get that data." He then approached a terminal, opening his omni-tool. "I assume we just mine everything we can get from here?"

"Yes," said Jodie. "We'll have time to analyze it later. We don't have the time now. They'll be back any second."

Kalo nodded, opening up a program on his omni-tool and looking at the terminal. "All right, getting the data now."

Jodie nodded, turning her attention back to the aqueron. She then frowned, walking past him and stepping into a back room. The aqueron followed her, turning on the light switch as the room was illuminated. It revealed a bedroom of sorts, not unlike any other bedroom she had seen. However, she saw some items cluttered together on the dresser, items that looked appropriate for prosthetics work.

She walked over to this dresser, lifting up a few things. They were colored objects, and in her hands they felt like a strange material she had never felt. It was similar to rubber, yet seemed much more comfortable on her skin. She looked at them, seeing the way the prosthetic item shifted in color from a strange sort of undefined grey to a light peach that matched her skin as filtered through the latex glove. She blinked in surprise, turning it over to the Aiden-posessed aqueron.

"You ever see anything like this?" she asked.

The aqueron shook his head, Jodie nodding as she looked at the prosthetic. There were several more pieces all laid out in front of her, and Jodie guessed pretty quickly where some of them were supposed to fit on the aqueron's body.

"Slap on enough prosthetics..." she whispered. She then chuckled. "Looks like Valentine was more right than even he thought."

The aqueron nodded vigorously.

Jodie said nothing, dropping the prosthetic into one of the pockets of her civilian outfit. "Let's search the rest of this apartment," she said. "There might be a couple other things here we don't recognize."

The aqueron nodded, and then Jodie walked across the bedroom, beginning to look through every piece of furniture in the room. The Aiden-possessed aqueron followed her lead, though he exited the room. Jodie assumed there was another room in the apartment, and simply resumed opening drawers on the dresser.

As she opened a new drawer, though, her eyes caught sight of something. She frowned, digging through the clothes in the drawer. She parted the clothes to reveal a strange sphere, one that looked rather technological in nature. It was the size of an apple, and when Jodie ghosted her fingers over it she felt no resistance from the latex layer separating the object from her physical hand. She picked it up, rotating it.

A frown settled on her face, and she pocketed that as well. She then opened another drawer.

And that was when her omni-tool pinged.

Jodie blinked, looking at her omni-tool to see an urgent message from Ashley. Jodie's eyes widened, and all in an instant her heart began to race forward.

She didn't have to read the message to know what it said.

She abruptly stood up, ripping the latex gloves off of her hand. "Kalo, Aiden, we need to go, now!" she said as she entered the main room.

Kalo turned to her, nodding as he hurriedly stood up. As he cut the connection. "But Aiden is still inhabiting the body," said Kalo. "What will we-?"

And then, from the other room, the two of them heard a fairly loud thud. This was followed by a slightly softer thud, Jodie looking on.

"What was that?" Kalo asked.

"Aiden knocking him out," she said. She shook her head. "He's going to remember nothing from the time Aiden took over, so as long as we left no traces, we should be fine."

"But they will know this waypoint has been compromised," Kalo observed.

"True, but they won't know who compromised it yet," Jodie replied. "And if we're quick in analyzing this information, that may buy us enough time to figure out the password and get in before they change it." She shook her head. "Espionage is all about timing, you know."

"I hope you are right," Kalo replied. They then walked to the door, stepping outside of the room.

"Right," said Jodie as the door closed behind them. She then gently grabbed Kalo's wrist, turning to the quarian as they made their way to the elevator. "Walk slowly, and act like nothing odd happened. If we run into them in the hall, keep going. They won't suspect anything if we're moving slowly. They'll just think we're-"

"Jodie?"

Jodie turned in surprise, her and Kalo's attention being pulled to a young drell in the hallway. Jodie gasped in shock, the turquoise scales making themselves rather apparent in the lighting of the hallway.

"Kolyat?"

Kalo turned his attention to Jodie. "You know him, Jodie?" the quarian asked.

"I..." She shook her head, looking at Kolyat. "I encountered him on the Citadel." She then chuckled nervously. "I wasn't expecting to-"

"Hm, I  _knew_ it!"

Jodie leaned back, her foot shifting behind her. "Knew what?" she asked, feeling a few goosebumps brush up her arms.

"Mission," said Kolyat. He then snorted, shaking his head. "So now I suppose you're asking me to believe that it's brought you  _here_ , huh?"

"Uh..." Jodie said. "Well, you see-"

"Yes, actually," Kalo replied.

Kolyat turned to the quarian. "And who the hell is this?" Kolyat asked.

"I am a friend of Jodie's," Kalo replied. He bowed his head. "But as I was saying, our mission did indeed bring us here. I apologize, but we cannot quite tell you the details. Let us just say, there is more to one of your new neighbors than you might think."

"Oh,  _those_ guys?" Kolyat asked, looking at the door Jodie and Kolyat had just walked through. "Hm. I thought there was something funny about them. Some drell keeps coming out, but he's never looked quite right."

"As well he should not," said Kalo. "It is very complicated, and I am afraid we do not have much time before they return."

"Hmph, before they return?" Kolyat then turned to Jodie. "So I guess your mission involves breaking into random apartments, then?" He pointed at the door. "I saw you walk out of there, you know."

Jodie frowned. "Kolyat, we can't talk about that now," she said. "There's a lot more at stake here than you could possibly know."

"Then what's at stake?" asked Kolyat.

"If we could tell you, we would," said Kalo. "But unfortunately, they have eyes everywhere."

"Hmph." Kolyat crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes at them. He then looked over at Jodie, who seemed to bounce nervously. "I got your message the other day. I was thinking of replying to it, but looks like you're here." He then leaned against the wall. "Are you still trying to avoid talking to me in person?"

Jodie blinked in surprise. "What?" she asked. She shook her head. "I... no!"

Kolyat frowned, looking over at Jodie. "Then why..." He shook his head, turning away. "You know what? Just get back to your mission."

Jodie blinked, leaning back uncertainly. "Kolyat?" she asked.

"Look, I get it," said Kolyat as he gave a dismissive wave of his hand. "It's important." Jodie heard Aiden trill in alarm, but she was too busy leaning close to Kolyat to notice. "Just... keep breaking into apartments, look at the strange people, do whatever you need to. It's an important mission. I get that. I'm sure you wouldn't keep trying not to talk to me if it wasn't important, right? I mean, what's so important about this mission, anyway? Like, did you follow those three guys to that apartment or something?"

Jodie frowned, shaking her head. "Kolyat, that's not for us to tell you," she said. "I'm sorry I can't talk, but we really have to go." She then grabbed Kalo by the wrist. "Come on, Kalo, let's-"

And then, Jodie bumped into someone. She stepped back in surprise, placing her hand over her chest. "Oh, sorry," she said, looking down at the man's feet. She then turned his attention towards his face. "I didn't see you-"

Jodie's eyes fell upon the man's face. And as soon as they did, her words died in her throat, her blood running cold. She realized immediately that she recognized the man in front of her from the vision: the contour on his face, the way his eyes gleamed in the light, the scar that trailed down his chin...

 _Shit..._  she thought.  _It's the man from the vision!_


	8. Chapter 8

The man in front of her grinned, looking rather satisfied. "So, you looked through my apartment, hm?" the strange man asked. "I see. I thought we'd get a mouse sniffing around in there."

Kolyat stepped forward, looking at the human-looking alien. "I guess so," he said. "They said they were on some mission or something, but... Well, you never know." The drell shrugged, opening his omni-tool. "Do you want me to call the cops? We're pretty close to the security station, it'll take them about two minutes to get here."

"Go ahead," said the human-like alien. He then parted his lips, revealing teeth whiter than anything Jodie had ever seen. "But first, a curiosity." He then turned to the drell. "Though perhaps you can come tell me what you know about their... mission..."

Kolyat shook his head, turning to the apartment door close to him. "That won't matter in a bit," he said. "We'll just get the security here, they'll sort it all out."

But before Kolyat could enter, the human man grabbed his wrist. Jodie noticed the way the hand seemed to forcefully

Kolyat blinked. "Wha...?" He then frowned, yanking his hand from the alien's grasp. "Let go of me!"

"What do you know of their mission?" asked the human-like man, his voice insistent.

Kolyat frowned. "That's not your business," he said. "That's the cops'. They can sort it all out."

And with this, the human frowned. "You won't allow me even the slightest curiosity?" he asked.

The drell frowned, glancing at Jodie before he looked back at the human-like alien. "Why does it matter to you so much?" he asked. "If you've got nothing to worry about, then it's not important why they wanted to search it, right?" He then turned to his room. "I'm calling the cops. That's-"

The human grasped Kolyat's wrist again, this time yanking him away from the door. At this point, Jodie watched as the other human-like alien slipped out of the shadows.

Kolyat frowned, pulling back on the hand "Let go!" he said. "I said we'll let-"

"If you're going to be like that, the cops won't sort anything out." The second man said this, Jodie noticing an electronic edge to his voice. He then turned to Kalo. "You didn't think we'd notice when our computer was hacked into, did you? I can sense it even from that distance. And you also didn't think our high command did not take a good look at the people on your ship while you were over Alchera, now, did you?"

Jodie blinked. "You saw...?" she asked.

"Of course," the first man sad as he tightened his grip on Kolyat. "And we recognized her as we got closer. Now we know you were on a mission of some sort..." He shook his head, looking at the drell as the drell tried in vain to pull his arm away from the human-like alien. The human-like man then turned to Jodie, a rueful smile on his face. "You really shouldn't have involved a second civilian, you know. You didn't think one was enough?"

"Second?" Kolyat asked, his breathing quickening. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Jodie turned to the drell. "Calm down, it's going to be okay," she said. She then stepped forward, pointing at the drell. "He's got nothing to do with this. He's just a civilian. Let him go!"

"I'm afraid we can't do that," the one holding Kolyat said. "You see, he knows you're on a mission, and we know what that mission is now that you have seen us. He knows too much. He's coming with us." He then looked to Kolyat as the drell's eyes widened.

"W-what?" Kolyat asked. "Why the hell would I go with you?"

"Because you'll have no other choice," said the human-like alien.

"Hey!" Kolyat cried out, yanking back. "Let me go!" He then turned to one of the apartments around him. "Hel-"

But the first man violently yanked Kolyat close to him, slapping his hand over the drell's mouth. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that, kid," he said. He then turned to Jodie, Kolyat letting out muffled cries as his eyes widened in fear. "I can't let this get out. He will come with me, just like all of you will, when-"

And then, the group heard a loud crash from within the room Jodie had left. She blinked in shock as a spurt of water splashed from that door's slit, the water landing on the floor and staining the carpet. After another second, a steady stream of water seemed to flow out from the door. It was not enough to cause a particularly strong flow, but it was enough that Kolyat let out a sharp gasp.

The first alien turned to the door. "What in the world-?"

But before the first non-human could say anything more, Jodie lunged forward, her hand pulled back in a fist. She punched him in the face, the man stumbling back as he released Kolyat. Kalo wasted no time, opening his omni-tool. A shower of sparks suddenly exploded from the second alien, the man's sunglasses falling off to reveal eyes that dimmed with some kind of artificial light.

As all of this happened, a warning klaxon went off, Jodie hearing the sound of an alarm ring loudly.

The first alien stumbled back, growling. Before he could say anything more, though, Jodie pressed the attack, kicking him away from her. She pushed him back towards the door, breathing in and out as a door opened in the far hallway. She saw a couple of drell run away, another door opening close by as more drell began to leave the building. Jodie kicked him hard in the gut, sending him sprawling against the far wall. Before Jodie could do anything else, she looked around as more drell fled the floor they stood on.

Jodie then rushed forward, her hand gripping the alien's head and slamming it twice against the wall. She then stepped back, turning to look at Kolyat. Kalo approached him, quickly putting his shoulders on Kolyat as the scared teen flinched at the contact.

"Are you all right?" Kalo asked.

"I... what the hell is going on?" he asked. He then turned to Jodie. "Jodie, what's going-?"

"Never mind that," said Jodie as she turned to Kolyat. She then turned, looking at the man she'd punched as he pushed himself to his feet. She quickly looked around, making sure that nobody else was fleeing the floor, before she pushed Kolyat forward. "To the emergency exit!"

Kolyat cried out, Kalo joining him as they both ran for the end of the hall. Jodie glanced at the alien one last time as she breathed in, looking right at the door.

"You know what to do, Aiden."

The entity clicked, and Jodie turned and ran after Kolyat and Kalo. As she did, the strange man moved to follow her. However, as soon as he took a step forward the door that Jodie had recently exited opened, the water roaring as it rushed out. She heard the water crash against the far wall of the hallway, Jodie running forward as Kalo and Kolyat smacked the emergency exit door, spilling out into the staircase beyond. The strange man was swept off his feet, Jodie sprinting towards the emergency exit.

She cried out, nearly tripping as she rushed right through the aperture of the emergency exit. The door quickly slammed shut behind her as soon as she passed through, the water splashing out and very slowly leaking through. Jodie breathed in and out, feeling her heart slow down from the pace she had not noticed it had rocketed to.

She then turned to Kolyat. "Shit, I'm so sorry..." she said.

"What the fuck was that?" asked Kolyat. "What the hell was he talking about?"

"We can't explain it," said Jodie. "Not here, anyway." She then nodded. "Where are your aunt and uncle?"

"I don't know!" said Kolyat as he threw his arms around, knocking Jodie's hands away. "They're at work or something! I just got home, and I saw you there in the hall, leaving that room, and I was just going home to grab something I needed!" He looked back at the groaning alien on the floor. "Who were those guys? What the fuck did they talk about... Why'd they put their hands on me like that?"

"We haven't got time to explain now," said Jodie. She looked at Kolyat. "Sorry. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, but... what the hell was that?" Kolyat pressed, stepping forward and placing his hands on Jodie's arms. "What the hell is going-?"

" _Jodie!_ "

Jodie blinked, bringing a hand up to her ear as she walked to the guard rail of the stairs. "Ashley?" she asked.

" _Jodie, I don't know what you did up there, but it's getting all sorts of attention down here_ ," said Ashley. " _What happened?_ "

Jodie glanced at Kolyat, shaking her head. "A coincidence," she replied. "Do you see anyone suspicious down there?"

" _I see a guy with sunglasses gathering around at the edge of the crowd_ ," said Ashley. " _Jodie, get down here. We need to convene._ "

Jodie nodded. "Got it," she said. "And Ashley? As soon as we're down there, we head for the ship. No questions until we start moving."

" _Got it_ ," said Ashley.

Jodie nodded. "Come on," she said. "We've got to get downstairs. I'll introduce you to the rest once we're there."

Kolyat nodded, Jodie seeing him breathe in and out with some effort. "Okay," he said, his voice nearly cracking.

* * *

As soon as Jodie and Kalo left the building, they rushed away from the structure. Jodie glanced to the side to see that there were first responders checking on the building's other residents, many of them drell. She did see a few hanar sitting on gurneys being checked, though. However, before anyone could see them, Jodie and Kalo rushed forward, with Kolyat close behind.

They made their way to where Ashley and Sura were. As soon as they approached, they both stood up. The gunnery chief rushed towards Jodie, a frown splayed on her face.

"Jodie, what the hell happened in there?" asked Ashley.

"Let's just say we flooded an entire floor of an apartment building," said Jodie. She leaned closer. "We got found by them."

Ashley blinked, stepping back. "Shit."

"Well, that's a wonderful way to muck it up," said Sura. She then turned her attention to Kolyat. "And what the hell is this kid doing here?"

"He heard about the others," Kalo replied, bowing his head.

Ashley's foot slid behind her, her jaw dropping slightly. "Wait..." She then leaned forward. "So you think they're going to put crosshairs on him too?"

"I don't know," said Jodie. She shook her head. "But knowing them, it's likely they'll go after him when they learn of his involvement."

"And if they learned about how Xerxes got involved..." Sura nodded. "Dammit. We can't seem to stop dragging people into-"

And then, the comm units came to life. " _Guys! You there?_ "

Jodie gasped lightly, bringing her hand to her ear. "Kasumi!" she said. "Where are you?"

" _At the ship_ ," Kasumi replied. " _I guess you got the intel?_ "

"Yeah," said Ashley. "We also have a big problem on our hands here. Jodie nearly got caught, and had to flood an entire floor to escape!"

" _Oh._ " Valentine's voice rang through. " _Well, that would explain some of the comms chatter I've picked up_."

Jodie looked at the others. "What?" she asked.

" _They're talking about how their waypoint is compromised_ ," said Valentine. " _As soon as Kasumi got here, we hacked into their communications to keep tabs. It's more than just the ones you saw in there, Jodie. We've got informants all over the place, and they're already hacking into that building's security feed to find out what happened._ "

Jodie bit her lower lip. "Shit!" She shook her head, looking at Kolyat with wide eyes. "No, they'll know..."

Kolyat shrank back, blinking. "What?" he asked.

Jodie turned away, her gaze turning to the floor. "I see..." she said, her voice quiet. "We got what we came for. We should get going."

" _Yeah_ ," said Kasumi. " _I'll hold down the fort here. Get here as fast as you can._ "

Jodie nodded. "All right," she said.

She then closed the comm links, Sura and Ashley doing the same thing. "What's wrong?" asked Ashley.

"He was in the hall," said Kalo as he gestured to Kalo. "He heard enough that they would think he would know."

"What the hell does that even mean?" asked Kolyat. "What the hell is going on?"

"A hell of a lot you don't know," said Sura. She looked at Jodie. "How the hell did  _he_ get dragged into this?"

"I bumped into him on our way out," she said. "He stopped us, asked me questions. He knows something about who I am..."

"So he's the reason everything suddenly went south," said Ashley. She crossed her arms, appraising Kolyat with a glare. "Dammit..."

"I... I don't know anything though!" Kolyat said. "Don't look at me, she was the one who wouldn't tell me anything!" He then pointed at Jodie.

"And we're supposed to feel sorry for you?" asked Sura as she stepped forward. "Hate to burst your bubble, kid, but this galaxy  _doesn't_ revolve around you. You just jeopardized a critical mission that needed to remain top secret. Why the hell should I feel sorry for you?"

Jodie shook her head. "It doesn't matter," she said. "We can't think about that right now."

Kalo stepped forward. "Indeed we cannot," he said. "The fact remains, he heard too much, and now they will likely be after him as well once they check the footage."

"So what do we do, then?" asked Ashley.

"I..."

Jodie turned to the young drell. Kolyat fidgeted a little, withering under Ashley's glare. A thought flashed across her mind, one of Kolyat trapped in whatever hell Xerxes had entered. Other thoughts occurred to her, too: thoughts of Kolyat laying dead on the ground, or of something worse happening...

Of Kolyat being trapped, unable to call for help from anyone. And then she thought of how everyone Kolyat ever knew, how they would react, all those faces of drell she didn't know... All the family, the friends...

 _I can't let that happen,_  she thought.

And then Jodie nodded, her expression hardening. "You have to come with us now," she said.

Kolyat stepped back, blinking in shock. "W... what the fuck?" he asked.

"Jodie?" asked Ashley. "Jodie, what are you thinking?"

"When they look at the security footage, they'll see that he was there when we talked about certain things," said Jodie. "He's going to be in their crosshairs now, and you know what happened to Xerxes."

Ashley looked at the young drell. "He's just a civilian," she said. "And he nearly sabotaged the mission."

"I know that, and you know that, but that's not important," said Jodie. "The point is, he can't defend himself from these people. He has to come with us. I'm not about to-"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kolyat asked, raising his voice as he stepped towards Jodie. "Why would I have to go with you?"

Jodie turned to Kolyat. "It's the only way to keep you safe," said Jodie.

"No!" Kolyat began to pace around them, gesticulating wildly with his arms. "You can't do that! You can't just tell me to go with you!" He then stopped, pointing right at Jodie. "What kind of people would put me in so much danger? You stopped those guys, right?"

"The thing is, those guys you saw on your floor are not the last who'd go after you," Jodie replied, brushing some hair out of her face as she moved closer. She glanced around furtively, before leaning closer to the drell. "Our mission is to look into a conspiracy that spans the whole galaxy," she whispered. "Those guys you saw there were one of our starting points. There was more weird about them than you could've known. And now that you know something about our relationship to them, they're going to gun after you if they ever find out you were involved in what happened here."

"And how the hell do you know that?" asked Kolyat.

"Because they already took one of my friends for knowing," Jodie said. "Now that you know more than they want you to know, they're going to hunt you down, and they won't stop until they find you and take you prisoner. The worst part? There are only a few people in this galaxy who can keep you safe from them, and the local law enforcement is  _not_ one of those people."

"What kind of bullshit is that!?" Kolyat asked. "I don't know anything! I don't know what this conspiracy is, I don't know why you're looking into them... I don't know anything!"

"We know these people, Kolyat," Jodie said. "They would not take the chance. They'll try to kidnap you regardless." She shook her head. "I can't let that happen to you, Kolyat."

Kolyat snorted, shaking his head as he walked over to the staircase's guard rail. "Gods, I don't know..." he said, his heart beating rapidly. "Why? Why me?"

Jodie stepped forward, placing her hands on Kolyat's arms and lightly rubbing them. "This is why I didn't want to tell you anything," she said. "I never wanted you to get involved. It's standard not to tell civilians on a highly classified mission like this; can't involve civilians that don't have any business being in the line of fire." She shook her head. "This shouldn't have happened, and it's my fault. I need to protect you now."

"Some protection you're offering," Kolyat scoffed. He then turned to Jodie. "This whole thing looks really fishy, you know that, right? How can I trust you'll keep me safe? How do I know this isn't some ploy to get ransom money? How do I know you're being for real?"

"You heard what they spoke of," said Kalo. "Jodie would not harm you like that. You have my word."

"And trust me, she does her best," Sura said. The cop stepped forward, opening her omni-tool and displaying her badge to the young drell. "Trust me," she continued. "By Citadel law, I'll make sure you stay safe there, kid. Even if you  _did_ jeopardize the mission."

Kolyat frowned. "You don't have any jurisdiction here, though," he said.

"Doesn't mean I can't kick ass and take names to protect people," she replied.

The drell looked at Kalo for a second, his breathing slowing down. He then glanced back to Jodie, his eyes shining in fear. His look caused Jodie's hair to stand on end, and for a second, she saw something more than fear of going with strangers he had only met recently.

Kolyat then sighed, looking down at the ground and sighing. "Just..." He turned his attention back to Jodie, everyone else noticing the moisture that was collecting around Kolyat's lower eyelids. "At least let me tell my aunt and uncle. They'll be worried when they find I'm not home from school on an early release day."

Jodie nodded, patting Kolyat's shoulder reassuringly. "We'll let you one message," she said. "You can't tell them where you are, though."

"Just that I'm safe..." Kolyat breathed in. "I don't know if I trust you on this. This is so screwed up..."

Jodie shook her head. "We'll make sure you're safe," she said. "I promise."

Sura then stepped forward. "Well, much as I like seeing this sort of thing, we need to get back to the ship," said Sura. "We got what we came for, and really, if we stay here any longer they'll start to follow us."

Jodie nodded, turning to Kolyat. "All right, Kolyat, listen to me," she said. "I need you to keep pace with us. Whatever you do, remain calm. We'll try not to attract attention to ourselves, but for that to happen I need you to remain calm. We'll be right here, okay? We'll be right here, and we won't let them lay a finger on you."

Kolyat nodded, his breath shaky. "All right," he whispered.

"Just stay calm," Jodie said. She lightly patted him on the shoulder. "Come on. Let's take it slow. If we get lucky, we don't need to turn this into a firefight."

Everyone else nodded. "Got it," said Ashley. "Let's go."

And with this, the group slowly set out away from the residential building, Kolyat sandwiched between Kalo and Sura protectively.

* * *

The group eventually came to a crowded market, Jodie leaning down and gripping Kalo's wrist. There was a big hustle and bustle all around, hanar and drell moving about in front of various stalls. Occasionally, Jodie saw an asari tourist walking around, and she would see them talk to shop vendors, likely about some trinket they saw on the stand. Jodie paid it no mind, simply moving forward while occasionally glancing at the patches with fewer people.

They passed with very little incident. Kolyat seemed nervous as ever, but he was staying quiet at least. And for a while, Jodie saw no signs that they were being followed.

Eventually, though, Aiden clicked at Jodie. She glanced to the side, seeing a strange human with sunglasses standing by the side. She breathed in, acutely aware of the sensation that his eyes were following her behind her back. She then blinked, turning away as if to look at a nearby stall.

 _Shit,_  she thought.  _That's them, isn't it Aiden?_

Aiden clicked in the affirmative. Jodie nodded, glancing around at the crowded market. She realized she had no idea where to go from there. She of course knew the general direction, but the best way to leave the market was a topic that eluded her knowledge. She knew they had to keep calm: there was a chance, however small it was, that they could just lose their follower in the crowd.

But going for the obvious entrance that led back to the ship...

Jodie sighed, before turning to Kalo. She nodded at the quarian, before discretely pointing at Kolyat. Jodie mouthed something at the quarian, Kalo nodding in response. He then leaned closer to Kolyat, Jodie seeing the light in his mask light up as he whispered.

Immediately, Kolyat turned to Jodie, a frown settling on his face. "What do you want now?" he asked, his tone betraying that he was only half-heartedly annoyed.

Jodie nodded, glancing around the shops. "You know, I'm not sure any of these places are doing it for me," Jodie replied, glancing around. "I think I need something a little... further out."

Kolyat blinked, confused. "W-what?" he asked.

Jodie nodded, breathing out through her nostrils.  _Come on, Kolyat..._  she thought. "I just..." She shook her head. "We're already pretty late for where we need to be, you know? I just want to get this shopping done, and then be out of here."

"But we're not-"

"We still need to be out of here," said Jodie. She then frowned, turning to Kolyat. "And I think if we do any kind of window shopping..." She paused, looking around at the stalls furtively. "I'd like something... out of the way. Some thing hidden out in the corner..."

And then, Jodie turned back to Kolyat, realization dawning on his eyes. "Oh! Oh, right," said Kolyat, nodding. "Um..." The young drell looked around the marketplace, before they settled on a particular direction. "There's a sweet shop over in that direction." He discreetly pointed, Jodie looking out towards a section of thicker crowd. "My friends take me there all the time. We should be able to stop by, have a quick browse..."

Jodie nodded. "Then let's go over there," she said. "Come on."

The group then made their way through the crowd, Jodie glancing away. She had a feeling the strange computer had already seen her conversation; she only hoped Kolyat had caught on enough to know what to do. She took a deep breath in, steadying herself as the group slowly trickled through the crowd.

And finally, they broke it, walking onto a street. About two blocks away, Jodie could see a sweet shop built inside the rock face opposite the water, and Jodie nodded.

"Okay," said Jodie. She then looked to Kolyat. "I hope you know your way around-"

"First alleyway to the right," Kolyat immediately replied.

Jodie blinked, turning around. She gasped, redirecting everyone towards the alleyway.

"Sharp kid," said Ashley as they stepped into the alley.

Kolyat shook his head. "Do you always talk in code like that?" he asked.

"No, but it helps," said Jodie. "Be thankful we didn't do the kind where you have to say two words in a specific order."

"You mean they really use that?" Kolyat asks.

"Yes," said Jodie as they moved towards an intersection. "Which direction?"

"Left," said Kolyat. "Right'll take us back to the marketplace."

Jodie nodded, before everyone turned left. As soon as they did, Jodie glanced back, seeing that the man she had seen earlier was not in her line of sight. Aiden, however, trilled at Jodie to hurry.

As soon as she heard this, she gently grabbed Kolyat's arm, beginning to pick up her pace to a light jog. "Come on," she said. "We've got to get moving."

Kolyat nodded, Sura looking ahead as the path split off in three. "Which direction?" Sura asked.

"Uh... front, to the right."

Jodie nodded as they filed into the straightaway. Jodie glanced back, seeing the sunglassed man from earlier turn into the alleyway. Jodie breathed in, looking down at her pistol where it was secure in her leg holster. Well, if he didn't know before, he does now, she observed. She sighed, turning her attention back as they came upon another intersection.

"Direction?" Jodie asked.

"Right," said Kolyat. "And be careful, it leads out to a public street."

Jodie nodded, the group quickly banking sharply to the right. They sprinted down the alley, Jodie glancing once again to see that the machine man was gaining on them. He looked at them with a malevolent grin, Jodie breathing in sharply as she turned away, her pace morphing into a run.

Kolyat kept pace with the group, glancing behind him and seeing the man with the shades following them. "Jodie..." he whispered.

"We won't let him get us," she whispered. She picked up her pace, her footsteps hammering against the plastic surface beneath her.

She then turned, seeing the alley's opening to the street Kolyat had mentioned. It looked not crowded, though, which came as a relief to Jodie. She saw no alley on the other side, though, and as she broke the alleyway, she found herself turning her head around. Right as she had paused to take stock of where they were, though, she saw an alley immediately to the right.

She grabbed Kolyat, running into the alley as Kalo, Sura, and Ashley all followed at a sprint. However, right as they crossed into the other alley, Jodie was suddenly pulled back. She steadied herself, looking back to see Kolyat quickly pushing himself to his feet. Jodie then glanced back, seeing that the sunglassed man was still following them, though he had gained up on Kolyat a little.

This prompted Jodie to pull Kolyat further, and she broke into a sprint. Kolyat struggled to keep up, and as Jodie looked back she saw that this was giving the sunglassed man the chance to catch up. She then glanced around nervously, looking for anything she could use to slow him down. Her gaze moved around the alley, looking for something, anything to knock over, anything she could-

_There!_

Jodie's hand darted out, sending a discarded trash bin crashing down in front of her pursuer. Kolyat yelped in surprise, the sunglassed man suddenly stopping. He quickly regained his bearings, but by the time he did Jodie and Kolyat had gained some distance from him. Jodie then looked back, throwing another trash bin to the floor behind her. The sunglassed man leapt over this one, but the brief delay gave Jodie a little more distance between them.

It was then when she looked ahead, seeing the path split off. to the right, while some of it curved to the left. "Which way?" Jodie asked.

"Right!" Kolyat replied.

Jodie ran forward, seeing the rest of them turn right. She prepared to do that, too, but a thought stopped her. "Can we go left here?" Jodie asked.

Kolyat blinked. "We can, but-"

Jodie then cried out, rushing forward. As soon as Kolyat let out a surprised cry, Jodie released his arm, only to grab the opposite one with her right hand. As soon as she did this, Aiden opened Jodie's omni-tool, the entity quickly sending a message to the rest of the group.

"Jodie!" said Kolyat in shock.

"We'll regroup with them later," Jodie said. "We've got to lose this guy!"

Jodie then turned back, looking as the sunglassed man followed them. Jodie frowned, turning her attention back ahead. She quickly noticed another intersection, jumping to the right before Kolyat could say anything. The drell did not reply to this, though, so Jodie took it as a good sign.

However, as soon as she entered, she crashed straight into the wall. She reeled for a second, noticing that the alley from there was narrow enough that it would be difficult to maintain any kind of speed for too long. She growled, pulling Kolyat in front as they began to navigate their way around the twisty alleyway. It curved in all sorts of strange directions, Jodie swearing it was curving in on itself as they moved. On the right angles, Jodie found them both slowing down, though Kolyat did his best to move forward.

And right as the alleyway cleared up, Jodie saw that there was a long passageway out, a curve waiting at the end. "Okay," she said. "Come on, let's-"

But before Jodie could run, she felt herself get tackled. "Got you!"

Kolyat stopped, immediately turning around and snarling. "Get away from her!" The drell rushed forward, bringing his leg behind and kicking the sunglassed man as hard as he could. Kolyat could only cry out as the sunglasses shattered and fell away, the drell limping away as his opponent grappled onto Jodie.

However, it gave Jodie the distraction she needed. She rapidly turned, elbowing the man in the face. It was enough to allow her to roll on her back, and with a rather violent heave the man had been shoved off of her. Jodie scrambled to her feet, looking at the man.

Her blood ran cold as she saw what the sunglasses hid: they hid a pair of eyes that shone with an unnatural green light. It illuminated the walls around them, and Jodie could see evidence of a scrim when she looked hard enough. Kolyat saw it too, the drell gasping in shock as he took a step back. The man simply glared at Jodie and Kolyat, Jodie splaying her arms behind her protectively.

Shit, this guy's an exion, she thought. I knew it...

"Who the hell are you?" Kolyat asked immediately.

"That is none of your concern," said the exion. "What's important is that you will not leave to report to whoever your mission giver was."

Jodie frowned. "Why are you trying so hard to hide it?" she asked. "You'd kidnap civilians to make sure it doesn't get out?"

"We cannot take any more chances," said the exion. "We will not allow a repeat of the Great Purge."

Kolyat's eyes bulged out a little as Jodie moved around the man with the glowing eyes. "Great Purge?" he asked.

Jodie growled. "You won't take him," she said. "And you're not taking any of us."

"I'd like to see you try," said the exion.

With this, the electronic entity rushed towards Jodie. Jodie braced herself, bringing her fists up.

 _Aiden, don't interfere unless you have to_ , Jodie thought. _We don't need to freak out Kolyat any more than he already is._

Aiden clicked, Jodie preparing herself.

The exion came at her, letting out a cry as he moved to punch Jodie. However, Jodie was quick: she stepped to the side, deflecting the punch and stepping back. Kolyat stepped away, Jodie turning as the exion rolled to the ground. However, the electronic entity rolled back onto his feet, quickly turning to Jodie. He delivered a kick that Jodie ducked under, and it was then that Jodie struck at the knee with a clenched fist.

However, the hit did not do as much as Jodie hoped it would. She hit something harder than bone underneath the flesh, and the impact caused her to pause, looking right at the spot she hit. This gave the exion enough time to reach at Jodie's clothes, pulling her bodily off the ground. Jodie cried out as she was flung against the wall, her back flaring up in pain as she impacted against the wall and fell to the floor.

Jodie got to her hands and knees, quickly standing up just in time to dodge a punch from the exion. However, the exion had predicted this, Jodie suddenly finding the fist she dodged coming in to grab the back of her head. She let out a cry, barely able to brace herself in time to avoid getting a particularly nasty blow to the gut from the exion's knee. She pushed against the knee, managing to dampen the blow, but the exion still went for another couple of blows regardless.

On the third blow, Jodie frowned, bringing one of her legs back. Quickly, she swept it right underneath her opponent, surprising him and sending them both sprawling to the ground. The exion pulled himself to his feet very quickly, Jodie struggling just a little bit to get back up. Jodie looked at the exion, gasping as she rolled back. She rolled back just in time to dodge a kick from the exion, and as soon as she rolled back she braced against the wall, climbing back up to her feet.

She gasped, seeing the exion rush her just in time to kick out. She caught him across the shoulder, deflecting his trajectory as he crashed into the wall next to her. However, Jodie then leapt back, narrowly dodging a punch from the exion. As she stepped back, she saw that he had punched the wall hard enough to leave a dent, but before Jodie could do anything else the exion had backhanded her, sending Jodie sprawling to the floor.

"Stay out of our business," the exion said as he approached. "And maybe then, you will-"

The exion was interrupted by something coming and hitting him in the head. Jodie looked up in surprise, Kolyat rushing at the exion with a discarded piece of pipe. The young drell rushed forward again, wailing down on the exion with the pipe as he kept his eyes squeezed shut. The exion was caught off guard for only a second, but this second gave Jodie enough time to get to her feet.

She stood up just in time to see the exion reach up and grab the pipe. As Jodie watched, the exion squeezed as hard as he could, the metal bending around his hand. Eventually, the exion wrenched it out of the drell's hand, Kolyat stepping back in fear. The exion tossed the bent metal away, rounding off on Kolyat as the drell stepped back in fright.

But before he could, the exion was stopped, seizing up rather suddenly. The lights in his eyes immediately dimmed to nothing, and before long he sank to the floor. Jodie stood over him, the end of the bent pipe embedded in the back of the exion's neck. Jodie found herself breathing heavily as fluid spilled out. Jodie frowned, noticing it was almost too viscous to be blood even though it was colored the same way.

Kolyat and Jodie stayed still for a few seconds. "You okay?" Jodie asked.

"I'm fine," said Kolyat. "Holy shit, what the hell was that guy? Who the hell can bend metal like that?"

"Those guys," said Jodie. She then nodded, walking away from the body of the exion as it laid face-down. She then knelt down, opening her omni-tool and quickly sifting through a few menus. "If this guy was what I think he was..."

And then, out of the back of the exion's head, something jutted out, much like the tray of a CD drive. Kolyat let out a gasp of shock, the drell running back and loudly knocking over a garbage can as he looked in shock.

"Wha... what the fuck?" he asked.

Jodie frowned, gently removing what looked like a drive. She noticed how that part of the back of his head had been covered by artificial hair, before she nodded, making sure not to let any part of it touch the gore around her.

Thanks, Aiden, she thought.

Jodie then looked up at Kolyat. "What the hell is that?" asked Kolyat.

"It's called an exion," said Jodie. "That's most of what I know, anyway." She then walked over, helping Kolyat to his feet. "Come on. We've got to get back to the ship before his buddies notice he's dead."

Kolyat blinked in shock. "Uh... yeah," he said. "Let's... let's just get out of here..."

And with this, Jodie and Kolyat headed towards the exit of the alley, Kolyat's eyes threatening to pop out of his skull.

* * *

Jodie and Kolyat worked their way through various crowds and alleys. Aiden remained ever vigilant, but thankfully the pair did not encounter any more suspicious types on their trip back to the ship. From there, it was a smooth, if hurried, ride all the way to the docking bay.

And as they stepped through the security checkpoint back to the dock, Jodie let out a sigh of relief. She pulled Kolyat along, the drell looking around. His hands fidgeted even as Jodie pulled him along. Jodie herself glanced around, not seeing any sign of the others around there.

"I don't see them anywhere," said Jodie. "I mean, we're here, but..."

Kolyat chuckled darkly. "Well, they probably took the scenic route, let's be honest," said Kolyat. He sighed. "You sure this is the place?"

Jodie nodded, looking further down the docking bay to where the Lying Bastard was. "Don't look now, but we're disguised as a pleasure yacht," she said. "So yeah, we're in the right place."

The drell nodded, before breathing in. "I'm... I still don't know if I should be here," he admitted.

"Relax," Jodie said reassuringly. "You'll be fine, I promise."

Kolyat sighed, looking back at the security check point. "I hope so..." he said. "I hope they'll be here soon."

Jodie crossed her arms, looking right at the checkpoint. Her heart began to race as she kept her eyes peeled on that checkpoint, hoping against all hope that Kalo and the others would walk through the checkpoint with no further problems.

Finally, however, Jodie heard Aiden click and chirp happily. A few seconds later, Jodie then watched as Ashley walked through the security terminal.

Jodie smiled, approaching Ashley. "There you are!" Jodie said.

Ashley nodded, looking over at Kalo as he passed through the security checkpoint. "Yeah," she said. "Can't believe we had to split off to lose that guy." She then looked over at Jodie. "You lost him, right?"

Jodie nodded, lifting the disc she had picked from out of his body. "And I even got this," she said. "Found it in his head."

Ashley nodded. "You think the data's going to be corrupted?"

"Maybe," said Jodie. "I'm hoping Legion or Kasumi can fix it back up if it is. But if it isn't..."

"Then we've got a treasure trove of information," Ashley said. She then paused. "If we can get that back to Anderson before we try to rescue Xerxes..."

"We may not have time." Jodie and Ashley turned to Kalo as he approached. "Who knows what they have done to Xerxes?"

Jodie turned to look at Kolyat, the young drell standing a little behind. "It might not be a bad idea to at least check if we can talk with him in person," she said. "We can get Kolyat out of the line of fire, we can turn in our prisoner, we can make sure what data we have is safe... and then we can go after Xerxes once we're done with that, get  _more_ data."

"It's shocking how much of this we're making up on the fly." The group turned to see Sura walking up to the group, grabbing her bag. "Come on. We got what we came for."

"You think they're still following us?" asked Kolyat.

"We tend to hope not," said Jodie. She then glanced around. "Knowing these people, though..." She shook her head. "We shouldn't chance it. Come on. Let's get out of here. We'll call Anderson once we're off-planet."

"You got it," said Ashley.

Sura nodded, looking at Kolyat. "Come on, kid, let's go this way."

With this, the group set off towards the Lying Bastard, Jodie glancing behind her out of habit to make sure nobody was following her. Aiden clicked ominously, Jodie nodding her agreement as the group turned the corner and stepped onto the Lying Bastard.

* * *

"And that is why we're now ferrying a civilian- _a civilian_ -on board our top secret operation."

"Yes."

Valentine rubbed his forehead. "Holy shit." He released an aggravated groan, looking up at the drell from where he sat in the pilot's seat. "First the geth, now this guy. What is this, Garon's House for Troubled Youth?"

"Hey, I  _liked_ that show!" said Sura.

"It's a badly-overdone version of a badly-overdone genre," Valentine shot back. He shook his head. "You'd think those turians would have something far less cheesy than that, but  _no_!"

"That isn't the point," said Jodie as she leaned forward. "The point is, he's a civilian, he's in the line of fire now, and if we don't get him to safety, they're not going to stop going after him."

"You realize they won't stop even if we get him to someone else, right?" asked Valentine.

"I know that," said Jodie. "But he's got a better chance if we get him to someone that can protect him." She leaned forward. "I'll bet even the Alliance can help him."

Kolyat stepped forward. "Whoah, whoah," he said. "What's this about a geth?"

The door to the rest of the ship opened, and Jodie and the others turned to look at Legion. "Holmes-Anomaly has arrived," the geth said. "We advise moving away."

Kolyat shrank back, his hand searching for the panel to the airlock. "What... Jodie, what the fuck is that?" he asked. "That's-"

"It won't hurt you." Jodie whirled around, grasping Kolyat's arm. "Just trust me, okay?"

"No, those things nearly destroyed the Citadel!" said Kolyat. "What the hell is it doing on this ship?"

"We mean no harm," said Legion.

"Bullshit!" said Kolyat. "Jodie, what the hell is this? You didn't-"

"It's not going to hurt you," Jodie reiterated. She then stepped forward, placing a hand on Kolyat's shoulder. "Calm down. There's an explanation for all of this."

"What is it, then?" asked Kolyat. "We're not being followed!"

Jodie shook her head. "Not technically," she said. She then nodded to Sura and Ashley. "Take him to the rec room. You can explain what's going on to him there."

"Rec room?" asked Kolyat.

"Short for recreation," said Valentine.

"Oh." Kolyat frowned. "Fine." He then turned to Sura and Ashley. "Well, let's get this over with."

Sura nodded, walking past the geth. "Right this way, kid," she said. "And brace yourself. It's a hell of a tale."

"No shit," the drell said as he followed Sura.

As soon as the asari, the drell, and the gunnery chief walked past Legion, the geth stepped in. Its flashlight head turned to Jodie.

Kalo shifted his weight. "I assume Kasumi is with our prisoner?" he asked.

"Affirmative," Legion replied. "We would not leave him unattended."

"True," said Valentine. He sighed, pulling back. "Well, let's not waste any more time. Let's hope these guys haven't caught on so they can follow with one of their ships."

"And what do we do if they have?" asked Kalo.

Valentine sighed. "I assume Jodie can think of something," he said. "With that ghost she's got..."

"I can think of a few things," Jodie said. "But we should get out of here." Jodie looked up. "Aiden, keep an eye out."

Aiden chirped three times in quick succession. Jodie nodded, watching as Valentine turned to the control panel and began the routine to get out of the dock.

* * *

"Ah, there we are. We'll be coming out of FTL in a bit."

Jodie nodded, watching as the ship slowed down. Valentine leaned forward, his glasses still affixed on his face. The pilot had pulled them down slightly as they came out of FTL.

Jodie turned to look at Legion. The geth simply regarded her with an empty stare, and while Jodie was taken aback at how bright the flashlight head was she had gotten somewhat used to it. The machine then turned its attention back to the outside, Jodie doing the same thing.

A part of her wished that Kalo were still in the cockpit. But that wish quickly went away: Kalo had stepped into the ship itself to check on Kolyat. Jodie could not blame the quarian: after all, the drell was likely still in shock about everything he had to absorb thus far. Jodie would have gone back herself, but she needed to stay in the cockpit, make sure Valentine was not driving into anything.

Jodie turned back to Valentine, before her attention was pulled back outside the ship. In the viewport, Jodie saw the FTL tunnel give way to the familiar expanse of darkness dotted by innumerable stars. In the immediate distance, the mass relay hovered in front of them, its familiar blue light shining brilliantly. Jodie bit her lower lip, looking around as her fists tightened.

And it was at the moment that Jodie saw some blue lightning arc across the sphere of light inside the mass relay that Aiden trilled in alarm.

Jodie's eyes widened, and she found herself moving towards the bulkhead. "Shit, we've already got a contact!" Jodie said. "Straight ahead!"

Valentine shook his head. "Of frickin' course," he whispered. He then leaned forward, his hand coming to rest on the flight controls. "Hang tight!"

The pilot's hands shot forward, and then Jodie's stomach rose a little bit as the Lying Bastard dipped downwards. Valentine pulled back, Jodie looking above as the Lying Bastard passed under what seemed like empty space.

"You sure it's there?" Valentine asked.

"Yes," said Jodie. She then frowned as Aiden clicked again. "It's moving towards us, too."

"Then we'll have to make haste for the relay," said Valentine. He then bit his lower lip. "Everybody hang on!"

The pilot then swerved the ship hard to the right. Jodie gripped the bulkhead, keeping her gaze trained forward as her heart began to beat a little faster. She looked up at the area around the mass relay, knowing one ship was already behind them. Jodie breathed in nervously, watching as Valentine swerved back to make the trajectory to approach the relay.

Aiden trilled again.

"Below you!"

Valentine pulled back, the ship banking upwards rather sharply. Valentine frowned, looking at the mass relay as he righted the ship. "Dammit, that's going to mess up the trajectory a bit..."

Jodie shook her head. "Can you fix it?" she asked.

"Yes," said Valentine. "Hang on tight!"

With this, the pilot dipped the craft down, Jodie noticing that it came at an angle towards the relay. She looked on, Aiden clicking uncertainly. They approached the relay, Valentine swerving downwards towards the relay. Jodie's heart hammered in anticipation, before Valentine's craft came around.

And then, Aiden trilled loudly.

Jodie's hair stood on end. "Crap, Valentine, there's one right next to the relay!"

The pilot suddenly turned violently to Jodie. "What?" he asked. "Which side!?

"Ours!" Jodie said."

"Shit!" Valentine cried out.

He pulled away from the relay, Jodie only then noticing a slight distortion in front of the relay. However, she realized too late that the ship was too close to the distortion by the relay. It was evidenced by how the craft suddenly rocked from an impact, a warning klaxon suddenly going off nearby. Valentine grit his teeth, pulling his hands back. The vessel lurched back violently enough that Jodie felt some pull towards the back of the cockpit. She cried out in shock, Valentine pulling the ship to the right.

"Shit!" Valentine shouted. He pulled the ship up, Jodie nearly letting go of the bulkhead as another impact rocked the ship from the back.

The pilot growled, looking ahead of him. "Jodie, where the hell are they now?" he asked.

Aiden trilled loudly.

"They're getting closer!" Jodie looked behind her. "According to him, they're..."

"Fuck!" Valentine glanced down. "Dammit, we're going to have to try something new!"

He then brought his hand all the way down, the ship suddenly banking forward. It then moved perpendicular to where the mass relay was, Jodie watching as it moved down.

But before Valentine could pass the bottom of the relay, Aiden trilled once again.

"Shit!" Jodie said. "There's one down there, too!"

Valentine's sunglasses nearly fell off of his face from the force with which he threw his head against his chair. "Fuck!" He then looked up to where the top of the mass relay would have been. "And by the time we get up there... Shit, they boxed us in!"

Legion looked around. "Probability of escape in shuttle is calculated at point forty five percent," the geth added.

Aiden let out a lamenting cry as Jodie looked around. "Shit..." She then looked at Valentine. "What do we do?"

Valentine growled. "Get back there and hide!" he shouted.

Jodie blinked. "You sure they won't find us?" she asked.

"Not if you hurry!" he said. "Now go! Get back there!"

Jodie nodded, turning away and exiting the cockpit. She rushed into the hallway, her hand immediately slamming on the door control of the rec room. She thundered in, seeing Ashley kneeling in front of a distressed Kolyat. Kalo stood up, walking over to Jodie.

"What happened?" the quarian asked.

"Things went south," Jodie replied. She looked up. "They trapped us around the-"

And then, Jodie's gaze turned out the window. She gasped, the others turning to see the spacecraft that materialized out of nothing outside of the Lying Bastard. Jodie's heart nearly stopped, Kolyat letting out a gasp.

"W... What the hell is that?" he asked.

Jodie shook her head. "Come on," she said, rushing to the couch and grabbing Kolyat. "We don't have any time time to waste!"

* * *

Valentine turned to look out of the viewport, seeing the other ships materialize around him. As Jodie had said, they were completely surrounded.

The pilot could only sigh as he removed his sunglasses. "Well, shit," he said, rubbing his eyes. "Looks like we can't avoid the capture, huh?"

Legion turned to look at Valentine. "We suggest joining the others," said Legion.

Valentine shook his head. "If I joined them, these guys would know something's up," he said. "Better to let myself get caught and let these guys come to their own conclusions about who's involved. I mean, it'll buy them enough time to figure something out."

Legion's headflaps moved, Valentine hearing the little whirrs of gears in the silence. "We do not see the statistical increase of our chances," said Legion.

"Well, Jodie's going to have to work whatever she can with that Aiden thing she's got," Valentine replied. "If there's something Aiden can do to divert suspicion, then--"

"--they may be able to get it."

Valentine turned to Kasumi, a frown settling on his features. "What, you're staying out too?" he asked.

"Hey, I was the one that fought the intelligence the last time it took over our systems, right?" she asked.

Valentine frowned. "You didn't hear what I just mentioned to Legion, did you?"

Kasumi only gave him a small grin. "Maybe," she said. She then shrugged. "You'll see."

And with this, the three of them turned as the ship controls suddenly vanished. It was replaced by the hologram. It was the same human-like hologram the two of them remembered seeing over Alchera, right down to the features on its face. It leaned forward, a sneer forming on its face as it appraised everyone in the cockpit.

" _And where do you think_ ** _you're_** _going?_ "


	9. Chapter 9

Valentine leaned forward, looking right at the hologram. "Um... away?" the pilot answered.

The hologram chuckled. " _Well, that's one way to put it,_ " it said. " _But it's too bad: you're coming with us._ "

The ship then lurched forward, Valentine starting in his seat. Legion and Kasumi were likewise quite surprised, looking around as the ship moved of its own accord.

Kasumi immediately opened her omni-tool. "Hey!" she said. "I think there's only one person here who-"

" _You can put your hacking subroutines away,_ " said the exion. " _Even if you somehow eject me now, there are ten others ready to take my place. And anyway, I know your tricks now, so do you really think you can do the same thing twice?_ "

Kasumi frowned. "Well, that wouldn't be any fun," said Kasumi. She nevertheless closed the omni-tool. "But fine, you got us. So where are you taking us now?"

" _A place you can't run away from,_ " the hologram replied.

Legion tilted its head plates forward. "We can predict the statistical probability of that upon our arrival," it said.

The hologram turned to the geth, blinking in surprise. " _W... what?_ " it asked. " _That thing is here?_ "

Valentine sighed. "Believe me, I didn't ask for that," he said. He shook his head, looking at the geth. "But I guess this thing's coming along with us too."

" _Hmph._ " The holographic projection shook its head. " _It's no matter. We'll deal with it as we go._ " It then looked out. " _I guess you'll figure out pretty soon where we're taking you._ "

"You're planning on getting us to jump through the mass relay?" asked Valentine. "Good luck with that."

" _No,_ " said the hologram as it turned back to Valentine with a smirk. " _You didn't think we checked to see if our mode of FTL could work here, did you? There are some things physics here can do that we can't, but with a few adjustments, we can make ours work._ "

The ship then moved forward of its own accord, Valentine looking out as the remaining ships broke their cage and moved into a formation. The ships quickly pulled away from the mass relay, Kasumi and Legion watching with a look of dismay as their only real hope of escape vanished. Valentine kept his gaze forward, looking at the other ships.

"And what does that mean?" Valentine watched.

The hologram pointed up at the front-most ship in the formation. " _Why don't you see for yourself?_ " he asked.

The pilot leaned forward, following where the hologram pointed. There, he saw some kind of strange canon underneath the ship, Valentine frowning as he looked up, seeing the cannon charge underneath that ship. Kasumi and Legion also looked up, watching as the charge took on a strange purple light that lit nothing underneath it.

And then, the purple light was transformed into a ball of light, this ball launched forward into the space in front of the ship. Valentine watched as the ball gained some distance from the ship, before he then saw that light spread out across a large area, the area seemingly solidifying into a large violet mass, the mass forming like a large disc held vertically in the air. Valentine leaned forward, watching the mass intently.

And then, the mass peeled away from the center, revealing a starscape that was rather similar to the stars that surrounded them all. However, he saw that there were certain stars that were not placed right. As the mass peeled away, he also saw a planet appear, or at least part of it: as the violet gave way to this starscape, he immediately gasped, recognizing the planet in question before realizing too that the planet had not fully materialized. The violet hovered around in a small ring around this image.

"Holy shit..." said Valentine.

Legion's headplates moved forward. "Note: no data available on anomaly," it said.

" _Oh, you'll see_ _,_ " the hologram replied as the ships all began to move forward. " _Just watch._ "

Kasumi looked at the other two occupants of the cockpit, leaning forward. "This is gonna be  _interesting_ ," Kasumi said.

And then, the ships advanced towards the ring. Valentine's heart pounded in his chest, the pilot slowly taking his sunglasses off as the other vessels passed through this ring. The  _Lying Bastard_ inched ever closer to the edge of the ring, everyone keeping an eye on this ring as they skirted the edge of it.

Their vessel passed through with no incident, but what they saw on the opposite side of the ring startled them. The planet Valentine had seen earlier suddenly took on its fully spherical shape. In addition, Valentine noticed they were no longer right by a mass relay, and that all the stars around them had switched positions. The pilot paused, turning his attention back to the hologram.

"We're... we're not in a different star system, are we?" he asked.

" _That, my friends, is the marvel of the hyperspace bomb,_ " said the hologram. It then turned. " _It's how we travel without the relays..._ "

Kasumi whistled. "Imagine what the Council could do with  _these_ toys," she said.

The hologram immediately turned on Kasumi. " _They will_ ** _never_** _get their hands on our technology_ ," it said. It then turned around. " _Now... We're taking you someplace you'll never escape from._ "

Valentine frowned. "And what is that, Alcatraz?" he asked. "Because I could take a cue from Sean Connery and figure out a way to escape. And hey, I'm sure Nicholas Cage is around here somewhere."

The hologram frowned, Legion turning to the pilot as well. "Sean Connery," said Legion. "Human actor. Status marked as: deceased. We note the same status applies to Nicholas Cage."

"It's... never mind." He shook his head. He then frowned, looking ahead. "But this is in our galaxy."

" _We can use the hyperspace bomb to go anywhere in this galaxy, but we can't travel from this galaxy to ours,_ " the hologram explained. " _For that, we need to go to the wormhole._ "

Valentine breathed in heavily. "And where are we going?" he asked.

The hologram smirked again, turning to Valentine. " _We call it the Obschesto._ "

And then, the ships moved towards a patch of space, Valentine squinting as he held his sunglasses in his lap. "Wait, is that...?"

The hologram smiled, and before anyone knew what had happened, they found that the stars around them were remapped. Valentine also felt a very strange tingle at the edge of his fingertips, and then he suddenly found that everything seemed to become a little less colorful. Additionally, the stars seemed a little brighter, and something about the air inside the pod seemed to get just the slightest bit thinner.

Valentine breathed in, the pilot increasingly aware of the tingle running through his body. "What... What the hell am I feeling?"

"We detect... odd things in our calculations," Legion said. "Some physical phenomena seem to be calculated differently in this place."

The hologram nodded, Valentine noticing that it was just a little brighter and a little less colorful. " _Welcome to our galaxy,_ " said the exion. " _Don't worry about all the things you're feeling. Our physics are slightly different from yours._ "

Kasumi frowned. "Huh." She looked around. "This is going to kill us, isn't it?"

The hologram laughed. " _And that's the first thing you think?_ " it asked. It then shook its head. " _No, you're not going to die here. If you were in any danger of dying in this galaxy, we'd_ never  _be able to set foot in yours._ " It then paused. " _Besides, some of your kind have already stepped through that threshold._ "

Valentine nodded. "Right," he said. "Not easy to remember when you suddenly feel  _completely_ different for no reason."

" _As we thought,_ " the exion replied. It then looked out of the ship again. " _Well, you'll see our Obschesto soon. You will know it as soon as you see it._ "

The pilot turned his attention back to the frontmost ship of the formation, watching as it fired another of those hyperspace bombs. The light around this one was a diffuse combination of violet and some color he had no name for: the light was disorienting to look at, and after a little bit Valentine placed his sunglasses back on his head.

However, the sight that greeted the group on the other side was something that caused the whole group to look forward.

Before them was a large place, maybe just under the size of the Citadel. It was a large sphere, defined as such by the way five little strips of metal seemed to meet up at two ends. Inside one of the points of the sphere were all five of the rivulets met, the pilot could see a tower that stretched up, perhaps about an eighth of the way up the sphere's radius. He leaned forward, seeing the large mass of ships that moved about the airspace.

"This..." Valentine blinked.

Legion's flashlight head moved. "Our calculations suppose this to be this galaxy's equivalent to Citadel," it said.

" _You would be right,_ " said the exion. He then gestured to them. " _Hope you like the way it looks. This will be your home for the rest of your life._ "

"I'd like to see you try to keep me in one place," Kasumi replied.

" _I'd like to see_ you  _try to escape,_ " the hologram fired back. " _Now... we will dock, and there will be officers present to arrest you. You try anything funny, you're dead._ "

Valentine growled. "Why not just kill us and keep your secret safe?" he asked.

" _You have valuable information, of course,_ " the hologram replied. " _We know someone sent you to investigate the crash site. We want to know who it is that sent you._ "

"Good luck getting  _that_ out of us," Kasumi replied with a wink.

" _Cocky,_ " said the hologram. " _You'll eat those words,_ human." The exion then turned. " _We'll be docking in about ten minutes. And until then, we can't have you looking around the rest of the ship._ "

And with this, the three heard a mechanism tick behind them. Valentine looked back, seeing the door into the rest of the Lying Bastard locking behind them. All three of the cockpit's occupants turned to see the door panel turn red, before Valentine shook his head, looking back at the hologram.

"Aw, and here I thought we'd get to enact the escape plan!" he said.

Legion turned to the pilot. "This platform was not aware there was an escape plan," the geth said.

Kasumi frowned. She opened her mouth to say something, but thought better of it, before she turned to the hologram. "We'll get out of here somehow," she said.

" _No you won't,_ " said the exion. " _I thought I told you that already._ "

"Well, funny thing about humans," said Valentine. "We don't give up."

The hologram chuckled bitterly. " _We know that all too well, human,_ " it replied, its voice suddenly tinged with anger. " _We know that all too well._ "

And then, the hologram remained silent. The  _Lying Bastard_ cruised on, Valentine watching as they approached the large sphere.

* * *

They docked about ten minutes later. Valentine stood up, looking over at Kasumi. The thief gave a stretch, leaning back as she moved her hands as if to attempt to touch the bulkhead behind her.

"Well, here we are," said Valentine as he glanced out the window at the harsh painted metal outside the viewport. "Looks like we got here way sooner than expected."

"You don't say," said Kasumi as she pulled herself back to an upright position. She then glanced over at the hologram. "Are you sure we should be talking too much in front of that guy?"

" _It won't make a difference,_ " said the exion.

Legion looked over at Valentine. "We detect several life signatures outside of this cockpit," the geth replied. "The exact number is unknown."

"I bet they're just as unknown what they look like." Valentine scoffed. "I  _never_ thought I'd get locked up with a damn  _geth_."

"Alert: we have reached the same conclusion," Legion noted.

Before anyone else could comment, however, the door pane to the airlock turned green. A split second later, the door opened. Valentine and Kasumi gasped in shock at what they saw, Legion's head plates moving instantly.

The beings that stepped into the cockpit looked rather familiar to Valentine: in appearance, they were a species that looked rather similar to the velociraptor. The curved toe claw, the dark scaly skin of varying colors, the shape of the leg, even the contour of their unusually long tails screamed of an older dinosaur. And yet, they looked more humanoid, the arms a little more fully built and the eyes a little less feral. They walked in, wearing simple grey armor; they had assault rifles trained on Valentine and Kasumi. In total, two of them entered the ship, but Valentine saw a third of these lizardmen inside the airlock.

This third one stood in the airlock for a couple of seconds, before he stepped in, standing completely upright. This one was dressed in the same armor as the other two, but Valentine noticed that there was an ornate metallic badge melted onto the armor on his breast. It seemed rather similar to most medals he saw on the Alliance, if it relied on stars rather than the strange seven-pointed staff that was featured on the lizard's badge. This being held himself proudly, his snout turned up and his hands held behind his back with no tension in his arms. His gaze was directed down at them, and Valentine could vaguely hear this third one's toe claw tapping against the floor.

The pilot almost spoke up to mind the floor of the ship, but he thought better of it as soon as he saw this raptor's annoyed gaze.

" _Here they are, Admiral Kalpalan,_ " said the exion. " _These're the guys._ "

The admiral scoffed mirthlessly. "And they even have one of those geth toys," he said. "First Saren, now you?"

"I'll have you know this one sprang up on  _us_ ," Kasumi replied.

"Affirmative," said Legion. "This platform formed an alliance with this group. We are not the heretic geth."

The tall lizard immediately frowned. " _Heretic_ geth?" he asked.

Valentine chuckled. "Right?" he asked. "I found it hard to believe too."

"Based on our data, we have reason to believe that the pilot of this vessel does not believe it now," Legion added.

"I can't blame you," said the admiral. He then turned to the two humans. "But I digress." His features settled on a frown as he leaned forward. "You have been a pain in our side. You among all others have managed to discover too much about our information network, and according to the timing of your arrival your affiliation is suspicious."

Kasumi glanced to the side. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said. "I'm just here for the free jewels."

The admiral whirled on Kasumi, his teeth baring slightly. "Don't play coy with me,  _human_ ," he snarled. He then stood proudly, looking down at the two of them. "I normally don't like to clean up the messes the DGI has left behind, but this time they've left me no choice. We're the only ones with the facilities to hold all of you." He then frowned. "And don't deny there are more people on this ship. We know there are others."

Valentine frowned. "Really?" he asked. "I wouldn't be too sure of that."

Legion turned to Valentine, pausing as it took stock of Valentine's stance.

"Of course I wouldn't be," he said. He then stepped back, looking to the lizardman behind him to the right. "Private! Search the ship!"

"Yes, sir!" The soldier saluted, stowing his assault rifle before pulling a small device from his utility belt. He then stepped through the door into the rest of the  _Lying Bastard_.

Valentine frowned, looking at the lizard as the doors closed behind him. "And what was that?" he asked.

"Thermal scanner," said the admiral. "Your people can't hide behind anything with that thing."

Valentine swallowed, but otherwise he gave no indication of his worry. "I see..." he said, his voice trailing off a little. He then glanced out the window, before looking back at the admiral. "So... what are you?"

"Hmph, you have to ask?" the admiral said.

"Yeah, actually," said Kasumi.

"Hmph." The major snorted. "I doubt humanity would forget the face of the praetorin so easily."

"Praetorin?" Kasumi looked at the lizardmen, breathing in. "Huh. Guess that's more to add to the bestiary."

The admiral frowned, his gaze turning to Kasumi. "You do not remember?" he asked.

"Well, I wasn't involved in whatever happened," said Kasumi. "So no, I can't remember what I never heard about in the first place."

The admiral's frown deepened. "Interesting..." He then tapped his toe claws. "I guess I know what to look forward to in the interrogation, then." He then turned away, his long tail brushing the floor beneath it. "No matter. We'll get you to talk eventually. The DGI will be handling the interrogation, and if they fail then it falls to me to interrogate you. And we have our ways..."

Valentine chuckled nervously. "That... does not sound terribly comforting," he said.

"It shouldn't be," the admiral replied. He then crossed his arms behind his back. He then remained silent, a cold sweat travelling down Valentine's brow.

And then, after a minute that seemed to drag on longer than it actually did, the door to the rest of the Lying Bastard opened. The praetorin private stepped in, a confused look on his face.

"Uh... sir?" the private asked. "The DGI counted... five others in that group, right, sir?"

The admiral turned, his brows creasing in concern. "They did, private," said the admiral. "Why?"

"Uh... Well, sir..." The private nervously shook his head, offering the thermal scanner. "We can't find them anywhere. Even with the thermal scanner." The admiral moved towards him, but even as he stepped back the private held his hands up defensively. "And before you ask, sir, I ran a diagnostic. The system is clean, as far as I'm concerned!"

Valentine blinked, before he then smirked right at the admiral. "Hm," he said. "I told you not to be so sure that there were others here."

"Quiet!" The admiral turned to the private. "Search again!"

"I did that, sir," said the private.

Kasumi shrugged. "Hey, what do you know?" she said. "They just vanished. Like mist."

Valentine turned to Kasumi. "Funny," he said. "I don't remember you being able to make people disappear like that."

"I have my ways," the thief replied. "You were too busy driving this thing to notice."

" _Quiet!_ " The admiral turned, looking back to the private by the airlock door. "Private, report back to the office. Tell the DGI to sweep the area this ship was captured at, and tell them to sweep the area this ship was carried through."

"Yes, sir," said the private, as he turned towards the airlock while opening a strange little device that was clipped to his utility belt.

" _Sir, there was no reported break-in to my data,_ " said the exion as his hologram phased in above the control panel. " _They sat here like obedient children. There's no way they escaped through the escape pods._ "

"And there's a shuttle down there as well, sir," said the private at the door to the rest of the  _Lying Bastard_. "That is still there."

The admiral growled, before turning back to Kasumi. "Then you must have had some way to get them out," he said. He then shook his head. "No matter. We'll get it out of you." He then turned to the private by the door to the rest of the ship. "Private! Arrest them."

"Yes, sir," said the private, stowing the thermal detector on his belt and walking forward. Valentine watched as he produced some handcuffs, before forcing Valentine to his knees and cuffing him.

He smirked. "Kinky," he said. "I always did like to get led to bed in bondage."

The admiral wrinkled his brow in disgust, before turning to the exion hologram. "Your work here is done, Operative Aethon. Report back to the DGI."

" _Of course,_ " the exion replied. With this, the hologram petered out, before being replaced with the regular ship controls of the  _Lying Bastard._

The private had moved on to Kasumi by this point, but as soon as he finished handcuffing Kasumi, he lifted Valentine to his feet. Valentine stood there as the private quickly handcuffed Legion, before he felt the barrel of an assault rifle dig into his back.

"Move, prisoner!" said the private.

"Hey, hey!" said Valentine as he moved towards the airlock. "Watch the back, I have very delicate back muscles!"

* * *

The rec room was silent, and for quite some time nobody entered the room. The silence seemed to hang, everything in the room remaining still.

And then, after a few seconds, one of the floor panels shifted. It was then gently pushed out of the way, revealing a hidden compartment underneath. From this compartment, Jodie Holmes emerged, Kalo and Ashley emerging behind her. It took a few more seconds, but Kolyat also emerged, the young drell still remaining crouched.

"And you're  _sure_ they're gone," Jodie said as she turned her attention to the air above her.

Aiden clicked rapidly, a sound followed by a soft whoosh. Jodie nodded, climbing out of the floor compartment. The others slowly doing the same thing.

"That was a  _close_ one," said Ashley. "I'd really like to avoid any close calls like that in the future."

"I think that sentiment is mutual," Kalo replied. He then turned to the young drell, who had just lifted his feet as Jodie slid the floor panel back into place. "And what of Sura and the prisoner?"

As if on cue, the door opened, Sura gently leading the aqueron into the room. "Accounted for," the cop said. "You know, for a second there I wished Valentine was there with me. I could've made the obvious reference to someone who would actually  _get_ it."

Kolyat frowned. "Obvious...?" He shook his head. "What the hell is going on?"

Jodie smiled. "Well, we got into their galaxy," she said. "Not the way we wanted to, but it's better than nothing." She then frowned, crawling to the window and peeking out to see that there were armed soldiers standing guard outside the gangplank to the  _Lying Bastard_. She watched them, motioning to Sura to get on her knees as she looked at the lizard-like guards. "Those don't look like any guys I know."

Kalo peeked over the edge of the window as well. "You do not exaggerate," said the quarian.

"It's a little difficult to, considering the circumstances," said Jodie. She then turned to the others. "Well, the shuttle's untouched. They searched it, but they haven't done anything to it."

"You think we can use that to escape?" asked Ashley.

"Probably, but..." said Jodie. "The second we leave this ship, they're going to come after us. We need to find a way to get out of here without them noticing..."

"And then we go home, right?" asked Kolyat.

Sura shook her head. "No one gets left behind," the asari replied. She then looked to Jodie. "I suppose now's the part where we try and figure out what we need to do to rescue them, where they'll be, and how we'll get in." Sura then turned to the aqueron. "Now if only we had a place to start..."

The aqueron returned Sura's remarks with an unamused glance. "I was never a fan of sarcasm," he replied. "Always seemed childish."

"Sure, because you've  _never_ used it before," said Kolyat. He then turned to Jodie. "Can you  _finally_ explain to me what the  _hell_ is going on here?"

Jodie looked back out the window. "First, we need a plan to get out of here, and we need it now," she said. "But if you want the short version..."

"Aiden is a thing that exists..." Kolyat breathed in, his arms a little shaky. "Ashley... Ashley told me. And..." He looked up. "This is crazy. How is there a whole galaxy that we don't know about?"

Jodie nodded. "That's part of what we're here to find out," she said. She peeked at the guards, before turning back to the aqueron. "They'll be watching us, right?"

"Yes," he said. He then looked out. "This does not surprise me, that they've brought us here."

"You know your way around?" asked Ashley.

" _Everyone_ knows their way around this place," the aqueron replied. "And I have some idea of where they may have gone."

"And you're just going to cooperate with us like that," said Sura.

"If I had my way, I would be dead," the aqueron replied. "But as it stands now, my fate is not in my own hands, and you have elected to keep me alive."

Ashley shrugged. "Well, he's not wrong," she said.

"That he isn't," said Sura. She then nodded. "First things first, though. How are we going to get out of here?"

Jodie rubbed her chin, looking back at the aqueron. "We'll have to get in past wherever customs takes us, right?" she asked.

"Yes," said the aqueron.

"And we don't want to be noticed, right?" asked Jodie.

"Security will swarm you, yes," the aqueron replied.

Jodie then paused, rubbing her chin. "And this place..." Jodie then looked outside. "Are all the parts of that sphere inhabited?"

"Yes," said the aqueron. "They are."

"Do you think..." Jodie paused. "Is there any empty space where we can evade customs? Like, anything underneath this dock, for instance?"

"There may be," said the aqueron. "And if not, there are other holes. You will see this place up close soon..."

Jodie nodded, turning to everyone in the room. "I think I might have an idea." She turned her attention to the door. "Kalo, you're good enough to jury-rig some kind of tether, right?"

"I can certainly try," Kalo replied.

"Then we'll need to raid the science lab," she said. "Save whatever data we can, get everything we can, and then find stuff that we can jury-rig a contraption with."

Everyone's gaze followed Jodie to the door. After a second or so, Ashley turned back, her brows furrowed as she crossed her arms.

"It's a crazy idea, isn't it?" asked Ashley.

Jodie shrugged. "Crazy ideas are the only ones that'll get us out of this mess," she said. "Here's what I'm thinking..."

* * *

Kalo knelt down, seeing all of the objects before him. He nodded, grabbing the toolbox and opening it. "Yes," he said. "I could make something out of what we have..."

"Can you make what we asked for?" Jodie asked as she knelt next to him.

"I'd need a little help," Kalo admitted. "Perhaps the gunnery chief can help?"

Ashley shrugged. "Well, you'll have to keep in mind I don't know this tech that well, but if I explain some things I have to trust you to fill in the holes," she said.

"I should be able to do that," said Kalo.

Ashley smiled as she knelt next to the quarian. "Then there we go," she said. "Come on, let's build this thing."

* * *

Jodie looked over at Sura as she counted out the rations. "Is there enough?"

"Plenty," said Sura. "It'll be able to tide two people over."

"Excellent." Jodie's gaze turned out towards the window. "Just make sure those guys don't see you, right?"

"Oh, come now, I'm sure the boys would appreciate the view," she said.

Jodie's gaze narrowed. The asari paused for a second, before shrugging. "And  _that_ fell flat, didn't it?"

"I would say so." Jodie shook her head. "Make sure to count the rations. Save some for us, but don't give them all away!"

"You think you can find levo food around here?" Sura asked.

Jodie nodded. "I've had to live off the streets before," she said. "I think I'll manage..."

* * *

"And this place is completely impenetrable."

"I didn't say  _that_. Only that it would be difficult."

Jodie nodded. "So they have scanners that can detect Aiden."

"And force fields that can keep a spirit from following you into a chamber," the aqueron replied.

Jodie breathed in, remembering what had happened in the underwater base. "Right..." She nodded. "So I'm going to need to bring more than one person if I break in."

"Technically, you would have to coordinate with someone from the inside," said the aqueron. "But two of your hackers are already inside the prison. If they can crack the code..."

"But they'd have to know we're coming for them..." said Jodie as she rubbed her chin. She sighed, before turning back to the aqueron. "We'll have to gather more information. You said the government building is that giant tower in the center of this place, right?"

* * *

Ashley handed an OSD to Jodie. "And there it is," Ashley said. "All the research we've managed to compile in this lab."

"On this one disc?" Jodie asked as she took it. "I'm still shocked at how advanced technology is around here."

"No kidding," said Jodie. "And to think, now we'll need to get used to another galaxy's tech!"

Jodie chuckled, smiling at Ashley. "Yeah," she said. She then pocketed the research. "We're taking things with us, of course."

"I'm handling that," said Ashley, patting the approximation of a lightsaber where it was attached to her utility belt. "Good thing we didn't really have anything else."

"Yeah," said Jodie. "It'll make our lives a lot easier." She then looked around. "Anything else?"

"No," said Ashley. "Kalo's almost done with the jury rigging."

"Good," said Jodie. "We'll be able to set off soon, then."

* * *

Jodie stepped into the bottom of the ship. After all the hustle and bustle that was happening upstairs, she needed a moment to herself to catch her breath. It had been hectic, mining whatever information she could from the aqueron and making sure Kalo was working quickly. There was also the matter of Sura taking stock of the ship, and Ashley getting as much data from their lab as she could.

Thus, when she went downstairs, she expected there to be some peace and quiet.

However, when she stepped onto the shuttle, she blinked in surprise. There Kolyat was: the young drell sat hunched over on one of the chairs. His head was hanging, his eyes were closed, and his hands were clenched in front of him. The drell shifted uneasily, Jodie noticing that he hadn't flinched upon Jodie entering the shuttle.

Jodie stepped forward delicately, her hand reaching out to him. "Hey."

Kolyat looked up, his eyes a little wet. "Oh," he said. "It's you again."

"Yeah," said Jodie. She then stepped forward, standing in front of the drell. "Hey, you all right?"

The drell paused, his gaze turning to the floor. "I... I don't know..." he said. He leaned forward, his elbows settling on his thighs. "Gods, I don't know..."

Jodie nodded, walking up to the young drell and placing her hand on his shoulder. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked.

Kolyat sighed. "What would there be to talk about?" asked Kolyat. "You're here, I'm here, we're about to go into hostile enemy territory most of us didn't even know  _existed_ , and I've just been taken away from home because apparently some secret galaxy nobody knows about is going to come after me now..." His brow furrowed, and the drell gave a quick, violent flick of his hand. "I'm just gods-damned  _perfect_ right now."

Jodie sighed sadly. "I'm sorry you're involved in all this," she said.

"No you're not," he said. "You pulled me deeper into this whole thing, and now I'm going to get chewed up and spat out!" He then held his arms close to him, his expression shifting as his eyebrows softened slightly. "Shit... I don't know how to process all this..."

"It's tough on everyone, kid."

Jodie and Kolyat both turned to Sura. The cop stepped into the shuttle, looking at Kolyat softly.

"Oh," said Kolyat. "It's the cop."

"Yeah," said Sura. She then stood next to Kolyat, holding her hands out in front of her. "I guess you're scared."

"Well no shit," said Kolyat. "What clued you in on that, the fact that I got taken away from my home because you all said I had to go? How the hell am I supposed to take that?" The drell sighed, leaning forward as his expression fell. "And now I'm out in the middle of some place where nobody can find me if I go missing. How the hell am I supposed to take that?"

"I can't say I blame you for being angry and scared," said Sura. "It happens whenever you've been uprooted completely."

Kolyat nodded, closing his eyes. "I just... what if I never see anyone back home again? My friends, my family... And all the places..." He hugged himself, taking a shaky breath in. "This is so fucked up..."

Jodie nodded. "It's tough," she said. "Well, to get uprooted. You're not the only one it's ever happened to." She sighed. "But then, you don't get uprooted into this kind of situation, most of the time."

"No kidding." Kolyat replied, resting his chin on his hands. "I'm so scared..."

"It's okay to be scared," Jodie said. Kolyat looked up at her as she shrugged. "I'm a little scared myself right now."

Kolyat's second set of eyelids nictated. "Really?" he asked.

"We all are," said Sura. "We don't show it, but I think we're all nervous. This plan could fail in so many ways..."

"And if we fail..." Jodie then bit her lower lip. "I try not to think of the worst. You plan for the worst, and hope for the best."

Kolyat breathed in. "Do you really think we can do this?" he asked.

"No," said Jodie. "But until we actually try it, we'll never know, right?"

Kolyat nodded, his eyes closing once again. "Fuck..." Jodie watched as a tear trailed down Kolyat's cheek. "Please, don't let them get me..."

"I won't let them," said Jodie. "Trust me."

And with this, the three occupants of the shuttle bowed their heads. They stayed still for some time, Sura and Jodie standing by Kolyat as he sat hunched over his knees.

And then, Jodie heard Aiden click rather loudly. She looked up, Kolyat and Sura stirring.

Jodie nodded. "Aiden says we're ready," she said. She then looked to Kolyat. "Can you do exactly as I say?"

The drell stood up. "I'll try," he said.

Jodie smiled at him, patting him on the shoulder. "Then come on," she said. "Let's get out of this ship."

* * *

Jodie looked over at Sura. "And you'll keep him under wraps, right?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am," said Sura. The asari saluted Jodie and the others as Ashley was helping Kolyat into what would've been Valentine's space suit. The suit was a little big on him, but everyone knew they really didn't have much of a choice.

Jodie checked her helmet one more time. "Good," she said. Now, the issue is, I don't know if I'll be able to help you if they come back."

"They won't be back," said Sura. "Not if I have anything to say about it."

Jodie nodded. "Just be careful," she said. "And watch the prisoner well. He may be cooperating, but he's not really on our side."

"Shame, too," said Sura as she crossed her arms. "He seems like a nice enough guy."

"Perhaps..." Jodie nodded, before turning to Kalo, Ashley, and Kolyat. "Are you all ready?"

"I'm scared, but..." Jodie could see Kolyat gulp. "I'll do my best."

"And we're right behind," said Ashley.

Jodie nodded, looking to Kalo. Next to him was the device he had jury-rigged. "Okay," said Jodie. "Let it go, Kalo."

The quarian nodded, opening his omni-tool. Immediately, the device hummed to life, and before anyone could react four beams of blue energy shot out. Jodie then looked around her, the indigo light surrounding her as she took a step forward. This step seemed to be a little stronger, and she experimentally jumped up to find that gravity worked a little differently inside the bubble: she seemed to float up, her hand reaching out and gently touching the ceiling .

"Well, it's a good thing mass effect technology still works in this place," said Jodie.

"Yes," Kalo agreed as he stood up. "Come. We should not test our luck. Let's go."

Jodie nodded. "Right behind you," she said.

Ashley then knelt down, popping a hatch right in the floor in front of the shuttle. She nodded, seeing the small space between the armor hull and the inner hull. She slipped in first, Kolyat following immediately after. As soon as Kalo was through, Jodie turned back to Sura.

"We'll be back with the others before you know it," she said.

"You better," said Sura. "I don't want to have to kick your ass."

Jodie chuckled, before turning and crawling through the hatch herself. As she did this, she looked around, seeing Kalo crawl through to her right. She followed suit, looking ahead as she turned her omni-tool's flashlight on.

Up ahead, she saw Ashley at the next hatch already. She popped that hatch open, Jodie knowing it opened out underneath the belly of the ship. As soon as Jodie saw Ashley slip through, she picked up the pace, crawling right behind as Kolyat and Kalo both passed through. Finally, she got to the open hatch herself, looking out into the vast void of space beneath her.

She took a breath to steady herself, before crawling out.

The sensation of crawling out was like jumping into a pool: Jodie felt completely weightless, and she would have drifted away if not for the mass effect tether keeping her rigged to the device. Jodie looked to the others, Kolyat grabbing on to Ashley for dear life as Kalo turned his head about.

"Well, this is a new sensation," said Kalo.

"You think?" Kolyat shouted back. "How the hell are you guys sane enough to do this?"

"We're not," said Ashley. "We just stay mostly sane." The gunnery chief turned to Jodie.

Jodie nodded, looking past the docking bay to see a giant curved wall up ahead. The dock was not far away, but there was also a large hole about one and a half times the size of Sovereign just to the right of the dock. Jodie nodded, looking over at Kalo. She then gently brought her hands up to the underbelly, crawling along as she grabbed Kalo's hand. Kalo grabbed back, and they both looked out as Ashley and Kolyat did the same.

"Well, let's do it," she said as Kalo opened his omni-tool. "We engage the mass effect in three... two... one..."

And then, the quarian tapped a button on the omni-tool. The mass effect field suddenly brought all four people lurching forward, Kolyat letting out a scared squeal as the tether launched them. Jodie saw the blue aura around her dissipate immediately, and before long she saw they were approaching the hole.

"Let's hope we calculated this right..." Ashley said as they grew closer.

Jodie nodded, Aiden chirping as they moved closer. The hole approached faster and faster, and Jodie looked over as poor Kolyat huddled even closer to Ashley. Kalo floated along with ease, the quarian turning around to look at Jodie.

"And we should be passing through..." Kalo looked up, Jodie doing the same as well to see they were passing the walls opening in front of them.

"Now."

And then, they passed the first walls of the Obschesto.

The sight took Jodie's breath away. All across the sphere, the five arms opened out, and though Jodie could not see the whole of it she saw that there was all kinds of civilization peppered around. Buildings seemed to rise up all along the five curves of the Obschesto, and Jodie could make out shapes of cars and beings flittering about everywhere. Jodie had to suppress the urge to gasp, the stark white of the buildings contrasting with the greenery that was planted all along the place. Along one of the curves, she could even make out an artificial river that tumbled up towards the top of the sphere.

She blinked, her mouth open wide. "Wow..." she whispered.

"Wow indeed..." Jodie turned to Kolyat, seeing that the drell had let go of Ashley. "Holy shit..."

"This place is huge..." said Ashley. "Wow... Have you ever seen anything like this?"

"No," said Kalo. "And I doubt I ever will again..."

Jodie nodded, before turning down to look at the bottom of the sphere. "And there, exactly as their prisoner had mentioned, was a large, wide tower that seemed to rise up out of the point where the five curves met. It was imposing, bleach-white walls glinting in the light as she noticed the way the regularly-placed windows reflected the light that came into the Obschesto. Jodie blinked, wondering if there was any movement in there at that moment.

"And that's where they are," Jodie said as she pointed to the tower.

Ashley nodded. "The Tayurmya..." she said.

"Gods..." Kolyat said.

Jodie nodded, turning back to the direction they were headed as they approached one of the curves. "And there it is," she said. "The ra'ken district."

"Our hiding spot for now..." Kalo looked to Jodie as they approached. "Do you think we will be able to set up there?"

"We'll have to try our luck," she said. "If our prisoner's information was correct..."

And then, the group approached. From a distance, it was not readily apparent, but as they got closer Jodie began to see that the grand-looking buildings actually had quite a bit of wear and tear. Some buildings had large splotches of vibrant blue rust, and she could see a few dead trees amidst all the living ones that peppered that arm of the Obschesto. As they got closer, she even saw papers littering what walkways were around, and that very few people were around.

"Perfect..." said Jodie. "Aiden, slow us down."

Aiden chirped, before Jodie felt a force act on her. She suddenly slowed down, her hand reaching out for a tree branch as she approached. As soon as she grabbed a hold of this tree branch, she felt the Obschesto's artificial gravity act on her, and the inexorable pull downward caused her to nearly lose her grip on the branch.

She willfully let go, landing on her feet and squatting. However, she then fell back on her butt, though the soil underneath her was able to cushion the impact. She then looked up, seeing Kalo land gracefully on the soil next to her. A second or so later, she heard a loud thud, turning her head immediately to see that Kolyat had faceplanted onto the ground next to them. Ashley then landed next to him, getting to her feet quickly while shaking her head.

The gunnery chief took her helmet off, shaking her head as she clipped it to her utility belt. "I told you not to be too overzealous," she said.

Kolyat shook his head, standing up. "Whatever," he said. "I guess this means nobody saw us."

Jodie stood up, looking around and seeing nothing around her. She then nodded, taking her helmet off. "That sounds about right," she said. She then nodded, looking to Kolyat as Ashley removed his helmet. "Now let's make sure it stays that way."

"Of course," said Kalo. He then looked out, seeing a pathway covered by decaying buildings. "Come. We should move."

Jodie nodded, and then all four of them left the patch of soil they had landed in. They walked down, seeing an alleyway that moved out onto a street. As they moved slowly, they noticed that the alley ended perpendicular to this street. Nobody else was really out, except for maybe one odd-looking being.

As they crept up to the exit of that alley, Jodie had to swallow in surprise. Ahead of them was a beetle-looking creature that walked forward on four limbs. Its whole upper body seemed to be bent forward at about a 40 degree angle, and everyone noticed how this being's short antennae flitted to and fro. Jodie frowned, before noticing the ridges on its forearms and the eyes, red like those of a fly.

She recognized it from her dream, but could not place a name to its species.

She nodded, noticing the being walking away. Jodie nodded, turning her attention back to the others. She glanced behind them, seeing that the other direction out of the alley was clear.

"This way," she said.

She then rushed out, her footsteps quiet as she left. She glanced around the street, seeing another alleyway. She ducked into it, the others following her very quickly. As they ventured deeper into this alley, Kalo glanced in the direction they came from. They moved deeper into the alley, the rust on the walls popping out at them as they moved further in. They followed the alleyway as it twisted between buildings, Jodie keeping one hand on the walls as they moved about.

When they exited the alley, they found it opened out into a circle, in which nobody else was present. Jodie hesitated upon hearing Aiden trill softly, however. She then looked around, glancing at the buildings they were in. Years of decay had caught up with them, and she noticed for the first time that some of the buildings in question looked completely abandoned.

Before Jodie could move, though, Aiden trilled loudly. Jodie blinked, turning in the direction that Aiden had trilled. She then gasped upon seeing a strange craft hovering above the ground. It shone a spotlight directly on the ground, and Jodie even noticed it ducked into the alleyways. The light was also headed straight for them.

Jodie immediately looked around the alley. "Quick!" she whispered. "Hide!"

The others immediately looked out the alley to see the same thing Jodie saw, before they scrambled to find a hiding spot. The alley was littered with all sorts of discarded trash, some of which Kolyat immediately dove under. Jodie shook her head, hoping for the best as she herself ducked behind what looked like a discarded couch. She pressed her back against the side, breathing in as she saw Ashley and Kalo both hide behind the remains of a toppled appliance. Jodie breathed in, Aiden trilling in fright.

And then, Jodie watched as the light shone past them. Jodie pulled her feet in closer, holding her breath as she chanced a glance over at Kalo. She remained perfectly still, even as the light seemed to dwell over them. Jodie turned her attention to Kolyat, and she shook her head as she saw the drell press himself up against the object as much as he could.

Thankfully, before anything could happen, the spotlight pulled away. When Jodie peered past the edge of her hiding spot, she saw the craft continue on. She cautiously crawled out, her limbs relaxing as she moved back towards the mouth of the alley.

Everyone else was beside her in a second. "Well, the area's patrolled by these things," Jodie said.

"Well, to be fair, our prisoner did say that," said Ashley.

"Doesn't stop it from being bad," said Jodie. She looked up. "Come on. I think I know a spot we can set up shop in."

And with this, she crossed the street ahead of them, the other three people following her with quick footsteps.

* * *

The door slowly slid open, Jodie admiring how much like a door back in her original galaxy it appeared. However, before she could ponder further, part of the door ground loudly, the right partition of the door coming to a halt.

Kolyat blinked, walking towards it with a frown. "Even the door slots are rusted over," he said. "Does  _anyone_ check on these things?"

"Probably not, otherwise all that rust outside wouldn't be there," said Ashley as she stepped through the opening.

Jodie stepped in after her, looking around. There was abandoned furniture strewn all about the single room they entered, and they briefly noticed that the windows were boarded up. She unclipped her helmet from her utility belt, setting it down on a half-destroyed couch.

"Wow..." said Kalo. "From the grandeur I saw outside, I would never have envisioned... this." He shook his head as he stepped through. "Even the Fleet seems to be in better shape than this."

"Well, nobody's been attending to it for a while," Jodie mentioned.

"True..." Kalo said. They heard the door shudder closed behind them. They looked around. "Well, there seems to be no holes any patrol can see through."

"Except the window," said Jodie. "But we should be able to steer clear of that."

Kolyat looked around, sighing as he held his arms together. "Well, I guess we're stuck here," the drell said.

"This does seem to be our base of operations," said Jodie. "I think we'll rest here for a bit, and then I'll go ahead and scout the area. Even if our prisoner's information has been accurate so far, we'll need a bit more of an idea of how to do this. Always see things with your own eyes first."

"But that won't come until morning," said Ashley.

Jodie shook her head. "A  _lot_ has happened today," she said.

"No kidding," Kolyat replied. He chuckled mirthlessly, before he looked to the side. "Anywhere I can take this thing off? It's itchy."

Ashley nodded, seeing a door off to the side. "You could try in there," she said.

Kolyat nodded. "Okay," he said. He then walked over to the door, and surprisingly that door opened much quicker.

As soon as Kolyat disappeared, Jodie popped a seal on one of her suits, walking over to the window. She stared out of it, shaking her head at what she saw.

"I didn't think we'd be in another galaxy today," she said. "Holy shit..."

She heard someone come up behind her, and before long she felt a three-fingered hand place itself on her shoulder. She looked up at Kalo, the quarian also looking outside. "We have work to do," Kalo said.

Jodie nodded, crossing her arms as she looked out. "That we do," she said. "That we do..."

And the two of them remained standing at the window, Jodie wondering what would lie in store for them on the Obschesto.

* * *

"Young master Sa'lem... Do you truly believe...?"

"Well, it's probably not going to last for long. But you know me."

A young body stood perched over the edge of a balcony. Right at the door to the balcony, a beetle-like creature stood, the man regarding the youth with an apprehensive gaze.

"I do..." The beetle glanced to the ground. "You fail to understand, young master."

"What's there to understand?" the youth asked. "He's a damn coward, Druvak. You know this as well as I do. I just... I can't  _stand_ it anymore."

"Then why do you run away?"

"Because I need to get away." The younger man draped his legs over the edge of the balcony. "You can stay. But I'm ordering you not to follow me."

The insect raised a hand, before pausing. He then stepped back, his antennae drooping as he looked to the ground. "Then I cannot stop you, young master," he said.

The younger man smiled. "Thank you," he said. "You'll see me soon enough."

And with this, the young man pushed himself off the edge. As soon as he hit the ground, the youth ran, never once looking back as he climbed out into the rest of the Obschesto.


	10. Chapter 9

Admiral Kalpalan settled at his desk, rubbing his temples in dismay.

"Another damn mess I have to clean up," he said, his claws gently brushing against the mixture of dark brown and dark green scales that spread across his face. He let out an aggravated sigh. "The DGI sometimes..."

He turned his attention back to his desk. The desk was kept in immaculate order: off to one side, a datapad rested, the datapad constantly receiving new information. The admiral picked this up, yellow eyes scanning them tiredly. It was yet another DGI report about all the clean-up that would have to be done in the wake of what had happened on Kahje: the gist of it was that the galaxy was completely abandoning it, and that thankfully the ones responsible for outing the post had also managed to destroy whatever evidence of their existence remained.

The admiral nodded. "Finally, some hope," he said out loud.

 _But is it ever enough?_  he asked himself, reading through the rest of the report.  _No matter. We'll find out what we need to know._

He placed the datapad back on his desk. He sighed, before opening one of the drawers right next to his leg. He frowned as he took out a small object, no larger than his snout, and he placed it on the desk.

 _To think I will have to use this on our new prisoners..._  he thought.  _I do wonder. Who are they-?_

A sudden knock at the door caused the admiral to pause. He then turned to the door, holding his hands together as he glared right at the door.

"Come in," he said, hoping it would not be another thing to make his day longer.

The door opened, and in walked a younger praetorin. This praetorin exhibited much of the same green and brown scales as Admiral Kalpalan did, but she also exhibited a few patches of white scales around the tip of her snout. She stood at attention, giving Admiral Kalpalan a salute as she stepped into the office. Her long tail coiled slowly around the area her legs inhabited.

"Sir," said the younger praetorin.

And there, Admiral Kalpalan smiled, standing up as he placed his hands on the desk. "Karshia..." He chuckled. "Still calling me 'sir' in private?"

"You are my commanding officer first and foremost, sir," said Karshia.

"First and foremost?" He shook his head, walking out past the desk. "You know the rule with me, Karshia. When we're in private, you drop the 'sirs'. I'm just 'father' in private, you know that."

"Perhaps that is, sir, but all the same you are my superior until the FAR assigns me to another superior officer," said Karshia. "Isn't it proper military protocol to give proper respect to that position?"

"Perhaps," said Admiral Kalpalan as he patted Karshia on the shoulder. "But it's just the two of us in here, they know you're my daughter..." He paused. "Remind me how many times I've had this conversation with you, Karshia."

"One hundred and seventy-six, si-father..." Karshia said, lowering her shoulders.

The admiral nodded. "That's my girl," he said, patting her shoulder. "Relax. We are in private. You're allowed a little informality with your own father, no?" He then turned away, his long tail flopping against the ground as he paced about the room. "Now, what did you want to come in here for?"

Karshia nodded. "Father, it's Sa'lem," she said.

The admiral abruptly paused, his smile immediately vanishing. "He ran away," he said.

"Again, father," said Karshia.

Admiral Kalpalan sighed, closing his eyes. "I'm thankful that finding a missing person is not in my jurisdiction," he said. "I'll give Ru'val a call when I return home."

Karshia nodded. "I'm always worried about Sa'lem, sir," she said. "He's always thinking dangerously. He won't be protected forever," she said. "Eventually, he'll hit a point where we can't chalk it up to him being a rebellious teenager. What will happen then?"

"That assumes he's thinking dangerously," he replied, holding his hands behind his back. "And I don't believe he is."

Karshia nodded. "He won't even tell me why he runs away, sir," she said. "It scares me that he won't do that."

"Mm." The admiral nodded, patting Karshia's shoulder again. "Don't worry about his reasons, Karshia. Whatever reasons he has, he always comes back, no? He will be all right."

Karshia nodded. "I hope you're right, si-father..." she said. "I hope you're right."

The admiral nodded, though his smile did not return. He then nodded. "Well, I have items to take care of, Karshia," he said. "If that was everything you wanted to tell me now..."

"It was, sir," she said. She then paused, grimacing. "Father. Sorry."

The admiral smiled. "Then I will see you this weekend, no?" he asked.

Karshia nodded. "Of course," she said. "I'll see you then."

And with this, Karshia turned, exiting the admiral's office.

As she left, the admiral's smile remained. He turned to the datapad once, before shaking his head and standing up.

 _I will get answers out of those two humans_ , he thought.  _I will get those answers for her sake._

And with this, he turned, looking out of the window his office sported. His thoughts turned to the other galaxy, and to thoughts of how the Parliament's plan to deal with them would unfold.

* * *

Jodie brushed some hair out of her face, taking in a nervous breath as she stood right at the door.

"Will you be all right going out there alone?" asked Kalo.

Jodie nodded, turning to the quarian. "I can handle myself," she said. "Still, I'm a little nervous about what I'll find when I get there, or even if I'll find anything."

"You can use Aiden, no?" asked Kalo.

Jodie shook her head. "You saw our prisoner and how he was when he found out I was... spirit-touched." She paused, chuckling. "God, that's weird to say." She shrugged. "But if he got like that, they probably already think with that in mind. Aiden won't be so useful." She shook her head. "It's been a while since I've been able to do real recon work like that."

"Well, I suppose Aiden will still be an asset regardless." Kalo gingerly placed his hand on Jodie's shoulder. "I worry about you, though."

Jodie gave the quarian a reassuring smile. "I'll be fine," she said. She placed a hand on the quarian's on her shoulder, and she glanced up at him. "And before you know it, I'll be back here with some kind of plan of attack." She shrugged. "Or at least the start of one."

"And you are certain I cannot come," said Kalo.

"You'd attract a lot of attention," she said. "You  _are_ the only quarian in this galaxy, you know."

Kalo nodded, his head sagging forward. "That is true," he said. "I just... I wish there was some way I could help you in this."

"I can handle myself," she repeated. She then sighed. "At least, I hope I can." She nodded. "Well, here goes nothing. If this all goes according to plan, I should be back before the patrols begin."

"Be careful," said Kalo.

"I will be," Jodie said.

The quarian pulled his hand away. As he did this, Jodie turned to the door, opening it. Once again, the broken side of the door got caught, and Jodie quickly stepped through. She spared one last glance at Kalo, before the doors closed behind her.

Jodie nodded. "Come on, Aiden," she said. "Let's go see what this tower is all about..."

* * *

"Druvak, I do not understand..."

"What is there to understand, Master K'lek?"

"What is going on in my son's mind..." A sigh. "Sa'lem is turning into a real bundle to handle, is he not?"

"I imagine so, Master K'lek. All the same, I am confident he will be back. He usually returns."

Ru'val K'lek sighed, before leaning forward at his desk. He held his head in his hands, all four of his eyes closed as he had to resist the urge to bash his head against his desk.

"Perhaps, Druvak..." He shook his head, sitting back and being careful to rearrange his arms so the thin wings on his arms would not be crushed. Perhaps.

The insectoid servant bowed forward. Ru'val looked at him sadly, dark brown eyes shining in the light of the room. His own pale skin shimmered in the light somewhat, and as he looked back at Druvak he only released a sigh. He pulled on his dress shirt, before leaning back in towards the insect.

"Perhaps you should be prepared for work, Master K'lek," said the insect as he bowed his head forward. "It is getting rather late."

"I suppose it is," said Ru'val as he stood up. "But I am certain they will understand again. I only hope Sa'lem returns home safely."

"He will, Master K'lek," said the insect. He turned. "Am I to assume there will only be dinner for one tonight?"

"Unless Sa'lem returns before I come home, or assuming that Sugrak decides to see how I am doing, yes," he said. "I may call you later today, though."

"Of course, Master K'lek." Druvak bowed politely, before turning to exit Ru'val K'lek's quarters.

However, the man with the pale skin stopped, looking over at the insect. "Oh, Druvak?" he asked.

The insect paused right as he reached the door. "Yes, Master K'lek?" he asked.

"Did Sa'lem approach you before he left this time?" he asked.

The insect paused, turning his head to glance back at Ru'val. His eyes remained unmoving, but Ru'val caught the way the insect's antennae twitched before pulling closer to the back of the insect's head. Druvak looked away, his gaze turning to the ground.

"Well, sir... He did," he said, noticeably hesitating.

"I see..." Ru'val nodded. "And did he say anything about why he left this time?"

"No, Master Ru'val," said the insect, his voice perhaps a little rushed. "As always, he told me not to interfere." His antennae pulled forward a little bit, the ends of his right antennae bending forward. Right as they got into position, though, Ru'val saw the antennae twitch just the slightest bit.

Ru'val bit on his lower lip lightly, and then he nodded. "As always," he said. He tapped his hand "That will be all, Druvak. I will be back before long."

"Of course, Master Ru'val," the insect replied. He then bowed his head, before leaving a little more hurriedly than usual.

The four-eyed man simply sat there after Druvak left. He sighed, tapping his fingers as his thoughts rushed to the gestures he had seen Druvak make. He knew what those gestures meant, and they painted a picture that Druvak knew more than he was letting on. Of course, this concerned Ru'val to some extent, as he knew that the insect would probably not tell.

At the same time, Ru'val could not blame him. Nor did he care about pressing: he felt he had some idea what Druvak was hiding anyway, based on the tone of Sa'lem's conversations with him.

Ru'val leaned forward, rubbing his temple. "Dammit, Sa'lem," he said to himself. "Do you not understand what you are doing...?"

 _I only wish I could tell him..._  he thought.  _But alas..._

He sighed, before looking at the loaf of strangely shaped bread Druvak had left on the corner of his desk. Gently, he took the loaf, and took a rather small bite off of the edge to begin his meal.

* * *

Jodie walked forward, her gaze turning up as she approached the tower in front of her.

It was even more intimidating up close. It shone impressively, the tower kept in more impressive shape than anything she had ever seen before. Faintly, she looked up, looking at the black windows as they reflected the light. She was briefly reminded of her old apartment complex in DC, with the windows shining very similarly.

She wondered for a second what lay behind those windows, and whether there were prisoners or statesmen up there.

She glanced up at Aiden.  _Where do you think this will go?_

Aiden released a series of uneasy clicks.  _Yeah, I don't know about this either..._  She nodded, stepping closer.  _He said this was where the prisoners stay, right?_

Aiden chirped in the affirmative.  _That's what I thought..._  She looked up at the tower as she slowly walked closer. She then glanced up, and way in the distance on the other side of the Obschesto relative to the tower, she thought she saw something rising down towards the tower as if it were a flat-bottomed stalactite. It was certainly not as tall as the tower, but from that distance she could make out something grand hovering right above the Tower.

"Why the hell would you make your prison larger than your government center?" Jodie asked, recalling the aqueron's words about the smaller building.

Aiden chirped successively, before Jodie shrugged.  _True,_  she thought.  _I just find it baffling..._  She sighed, before turning her attention to some of the patrols around the tower as she walked closer.

 _Now... the question is, how do we get in?_ she asked, stopping as she saw the beginnings of the gate.

Aiden chirped, and then Jodie looked to the left. There was a pathway there, one that seemed formed at the point where the curves of the Obschesto formed. Jodie then turned her head to the right, noticing this pathway circled all around the Tower. She looked up, crossing her arms as she approached one of the stations.

She saw a security station further down the path. She thought the equipment looked a little too similar to things she saw at airport security back in her home, but the thought quickly pushed itself from her mind when she saw that there was a distinct little box attached. She frowned, walking closer to the security checkpoint.

And then, Jodie paused upon seeing a familiar dark blue aura around the gate the people were meant to walk into. It also extended across the whole security station, acting as a protective screen.

She swallowed, memories of her mission to Kazirstan flooding back into her mind. She gripped her shoulder, not even noticing the containment field was nowhere near as large as she remembered it being. Aiden trilled softly, Jodie biting her lip.

"Fuck..." she whispered. "They do have containment fields here..."

Aiden clicked.  _Then that means we're going to have to adopt an artician identity..._  she thought. She sighed, chuckling bitterly as she leaned against the wall of a nearby building.  _Isn't that ironic, that we now have to do the same thing Shepard did to find out more about this place?_

Aiden gurgled, and Jodie felt a familiar warmth circle around her.

Jodie rolled her eyes.  _That doesn't change a thing,_ she thought.  _For all we know, he could be convinced he's right, too..._

The entity grumbled, before Jodie stepped forward.  _I wonder if there's any way we can get in without having to sneak in..._  she thought. She crossed her arms.  _A prison this big can't be used just for holding inmates, right?_

Aiden chirped, Jodie nodding as she pulled herself off. "True," she said. She glanced around the area, before pushing off. "Now, to figure out what identification they'll need..." She sighed. "Come on, Aiden. Let's see what we can find.

The entity chirped, and with this Jodie walked as close to the security checkpoint as she dared. As she did, she looked out, seeing a crowd assemble on the other side. She quickly glanced further up that particular curve, seeing that it appeared a little more opulent. The buildings were cleaner, looked to be in better shape... the lights even shined just the slightest bit brighter.

 _Must be some kind of rich neighborhood,_  Jodie thought, before she turned her attention back to the crowd. She saw various people, the ones with the bat-like arms that she recognized from her dream.

_If only I knew what they were!_

She then moved slightly to the side, Aiden gurgling a little. Jodie frowned, squinting. As she did, she moved to the side, just enough to see a square right in front of the gate on that particular arm. She thought she saw some rudimentary structure built in the center, and what little she was able to make of it brought her back to similar scaffolding she had seen in old Western movies whenever someone was about to be hanged. She briefly wondered how such an advanced civilization still had something her own home had abandoned a long time ago, before shrugging.

 _You think that's a way in?_  she thought.

Aiden chirped. As Jodie nodded in response, she turned away.  _And if they're bringing prisoners through in that direction..._  She nodded, glancing up at the Tower again before turning away.  _So they must do something in public, then. Maybe we could attempt a break-in after a public event?_

Aiden chirped rather loudly, before he released a series of worried clicks. Jodie nodded, taking in an uncertain breath.  _You're right, too obvious,_  she thought.  _And that would be a lot of guards to get through. But if I masqueraded in as an artician, as I probably would be able to since I have you to help me_...

She shook her head.  _We still have to learn more about this place_ , she thought.  _And that means we-_

Aiden screeched loudly. Jodie turned towards the source, but before she could react someone bumped into her. She stumbled back a little, looking back to see a youth scrambling away from her.

"Sorry!" he shouted. "Got to go!"

And with this, the strange youth rushed on, Jodie barely catching the odd joints of his legs and the bat-like wings on his arms. She shook her head, before turning back to where she was looking.

 _Odd,_  she thought. She then shrugged looking back at the gate.  _Anyway... is there anything else you can see, Aiden?_

The entity chirped in the negative.

Jodie nodded. "Hm..." she said, rubbing her chin. "We better investigate this a little further. But how..."

And she stood there, pondering her next move.

* * *

Valentine wriggled in his bindings, looking at the room all around him. It was a rather bare room the walls stark-white with no doors and windows. Turning his head slightly to the side, he could see his reflection in the mirror: from what he knew about most interrogation spaces, he assumed it was a two-way mirror, and that there were a few technicians on hand to record this interaction.

Valentine chuckled, giving a half-hearted grin to the mirror. He then tested his bindings, finding he was bound tight. His arms were splayed out to his sides, his wrists turned up towards the corner of the ceiling: this left his chest exposed. His ankles were shackled down to the other end of the table as well, and various belts all across his waist and torso ensured he was only able to move his head. His eyelids as well were held open by a metal contraption, and Valentine found himself unable to close his eyes.

The pilot sighed, turning his attention to the mirror once again.

It was then that the door to the room opened. Valentine turned, looking up at the praetorin soldier wo entered

"And there's the guest of the hour, huh?" asked Valentine. "I'll have you know we're not good for roasting. We tend to have an acrid taste on the palate?"

"I think you will find I'm not interested in weak attempts at humor," the praetorin replied. He then looked at Valentine, holding his hands behind his back. "Unless you really want to make this harder on yourself."

Valentine attempted to shrug, though he realized quickly that his bindings would not allow him to even do that. "Hey, just... trying to clear the air here, right?" he asked, chuckling. "We're just... having a pleasant conversation." His grin turned lop-sided, his brows pulling back in fear. "About the weather. Right?"

The soldier simply shook his head, before stepping to the side. Valentine turned, his grin vanishing as he saw a machine get wheeled in. The pilot swallowed a lump in his throat, watching as a small needle poked out from it. He faintly noticed there were several containers of various fluids he did not recognize, before he turned over to the praetorin.

"So... um... Is that British made?" he asked as he looked at the syringe.

The praetorin frowned. "Why would we make this in  _your_ homeworld?" he asked.

Valentine chuckled nervously, before he glanced away. "Pop culture reference," he replied.

The praetorin snorted, turning away. "So it was an attempt at humor," he said. He then shook his head. "You can abandon that small comfort, then. I assure you that you won't get any comfort here." He then turned, turning to the machine as a couple other people entered.

Valentine blinked, looking at how eerily human-like they both looked. The only difference Valentine could tell was that their eyes glowed, and that perhaps their jaws were set a little  _too_ straight. Either way, the sight caused a chill to run down Valentine's spine.

"So what are you going to do to me, then?" asked Valentine.

The praetorin nodded to one of the exions who had entered the room. The exion nodded back, taking a place behind the object and working on a holographic panel behind it. Valentine then watched as the syringe filled with a strange dark green fluid. He gulped as the praetorin simply stood by, watching Valentine squirm instinctively.

"I suppose you'll see for yourself," the soldier replied. He then turned, looking back to the exions. "You may begin."

Before Valentine could begin, he felt a stinging pain in his right wrist. He gritted his teeth, feeling the initial injection race through his blood. Almost a second after the initial injection, he felt extremely lightheaded, and his eyes dilated as he turned to look back up at the ceiling.

Suddenly, the lights were too bright in the room, but every time he tried to close his eyes, he found that the metal brace holding his eyelids open seemed to stab into his eyelids. He frantically darted his eyes around, but the room was so bright he could only make out flashes of color with no solid shape. He then grit his teeth, the stabbing pain in his eyelids only increasing from his effort to close his eyes.

"Who do you work for?"

The praetorin's question slammed into his ears as if it were a wild scream. He instinctively darted away from it, but the pressure from the eyelids caused the stabbing pain to return in full force.

"Quieter, please..." Valentine whispered, the sound coming to him as if he were speaking it normally.

"Answer the question, intruder!" The command seemed louder than a scream, and Valentine thrashed back. "Who do you work for?"

And then, Valentine felt a searing pain flare up his leg, almost as if the whole limb was being severed. He bit down as hard as he could on his own lip, the stabbing pain in his eyelids becoming prominent as he visibly fought down a scream. The metallic taste that he had in his mouth as he bit on his lip seemed several magnitudes more sickening, and his stomach churned as he began to feel what felt like every little cell in his blood.

He panted, the sound loud in his ears as he looked around at the flashes of color around him.

"That didn't seem to do it..." a voice said, seemingly shouting in his ear. "Oh, well..."

Valentine was only given a second to process that, before he felt an extreme stabbing pain in his gut. Oddly, the puncture only seemed rather small, but the feeling was amplified several thousand times over. The pain shot right through his stomach, before seemingly coming out the other side.

Valentine screamed, the sound so loud he thought his ear drums would burst.

* * *

Admiral Kalpalan stood behind the two-way mirror, watching as their prisoner screamed out loud. The praetorin inside the room had only lightly jabbed the tip of his claw into Valentine's side with only enough force to just pierce the skin. And as the human screamed, Admiral Kalpalan could see the way the human's teeth had been slightly reddened with his own blood.

The sight went on for at least ten more minutes, the admiral only watching on. His jaw was set, but it was set with a kind of knowing tension. His eyes eventually narrowed, baring his teeth after a particularly harsh scream.

The admiral shook his head, letting out a disappointed sigh. He closed his eyes, his eye ridge pulled back as he turned away. "This isn't working," he said. "His heightened senses are getting in the way of the interrogation."

"Didn't you request a different interrogation technique, sir?" asked an aqueron technician.

"I did," The admiral shook his head. "I told them this would be fruitless. I only wish they had listened..." He shook his head, before waving his hand. "End this session. I do think he will be too busy screaming in pain for the next hour to give us anything useful."

"And if he manages to calm down?" asked the aqueron.

"Then we'll try using a less..." He frowned, looking at the robot that administered the drugs to their human prisoner's veins. " _Intrusive_ manner of interrogation."

The technician nodded. "The Admiral says to stand down," the technician replied.

At once, the scene in the interrogation chamber came to an end. And with this, Admiral Kalpalan could only turn towards the door as the prisoner's moans of agony persisted.

"I will go report this to the others," Kalpalan said. "I will be back in some time."

The praetorin left the room, his long tail flowing gently behind him.

* * *

Kolyat looked over at Ashley as she knelt on the ground. She had laid a cloth down on the floor of the room they inhabited, the drell watching as she slowly took apart the assault rifle. He leaned forward, watching as Ashley laid the parts down. Even in the somewhat dim lighting afforded in their small apartment, Kolyat could see her look of concentration as she prepared a small little flashlight.

"You can actually take those things apart?" asked Kolyat.

Ashley nodded; it was the only indication Kolyat had that she heard him. "Have to, sometimes," Ashley replied. "This thing needs to be maintained, you know?"

Kolyat's eyelids nictated. "I thought you never had to," he said. "Those things can fire forever, can't they?"

"Only if you remember to clean out the barrel on occasion," Ashley replied. "And only if you remember to make sure the mechanism that chips off the old block is in perfect functionality. If you don't maintain this thing, it could blow up in your face. Literally."

"Oh." Kolyat looked down.

"We're not in the movies," Ashley replied. "Trust me, real fighting is a lot scarier than it is in the movies."

The drell nodded, frowning as he looked out the window. "Much like deep-cover missions?"

"Exactly like that," said Ashley with a light grin. "Kasumi's the only one I've seen who has all that high-tech gear."

Kolyat sighed. "And I'm stuck in the middle of it..." He then looked out. "And what do we do if we get discovered?"

"Run," said Ashley. "And if we get captured, we can't say a thing."

He shivered, before moving so he knelt next to Ashley. "But I'll never be able to see my friends and family after that," he said.

"Soldiers make sacrifices, kid," Ashley replied. "I knew what I was getting into when I joined up with Jodie on this mission. When you're in an outfit like this, you have to be prepared to make sacrifices..."

"I see..." Kolyat replied, his voice soft.

His gaze turned to the gun as Ashley grabbed a cloth from the side. She then cleaned off the disassembled barrel, putting down the rag and using her flashlight every so often to inspect the piece of the gun. Kolyat simply watched her, not saying a thing as he held his knees close to his chest.

As he watched her, he felt a pang of guilt. He knew these people were trying to protect him, but Kolyat felt he knew what they were thinking. The drell was a load and he knew it: he had no idea how to fight, he had no idea how to use a gun, and he was pretty much the youngest of them all. Jodie was doing her best to make sure he felt comfortable, but Kolyat felt as if the others viewed him as a load.

He glanced back at the rest of the components of Ashley's gun, seeing how intricately all the parts were laid out. He thought to the guns they used, how well they were used... And how he sat in the background...

"Can you teach me how to use one of those?"

Ashley abruptly stopped, turning to Kolyat. "I'm sorry, what?" she asked.

"Can you teach me how to shoot a gun?" Kolyat asked as he turned his gaze in front of him.

Ashley frowned. "You're a civilian," she replied. "You could get yourself killed if you wade into battle."

"Yeah, and I'm here anyway, your point?" Kolyat asks. He shook his head. "Look, I know I'm a burden on all of you since I can't fight and all that. But if I get  _something_..."

"And you're a civilian," said Ashley. "You'd have to be all right with killing people."

"I don't know," said Kolyat. "All I know, is I don't want to be captured. I'd feel better about it if I at least had some way I could cover myself so you guys don't have to worry about me as much."

Ashley frowned, placing the barrel down. "It's a hell of a thing, to kill a man," she said. "You don't know just how bad it is until you do it. And when you do it, you'll have to live with it for the rest of your life. Is that something you're willing to take?"

"I don't know," said Kolyat. "But I can't let these guys catch me, right?"

Ashley nodded. "Fine," she said, looking at Kolyat. "I'll get you started once I finish cleaning this rifle. But we can't do any live fire training, you got that."

"Yes," said Kolyat. He held his arms together, shivering slightly. "I'm scared."

"We have your back," said Ashley. "Don't be."

Kolyat could only nod, releasing a nervous sigh as Ashley returned to cleaning out her gun.

* * *

Kasumi stared up at the top of her cell. She rubbed her chin, her frown constant as she pondered. She tapped her foot against the cell, before turning around and inspecting it.

All told, it was a rather spacious cell. There was a cot up against the wall, the steel-grey seeming a little less oppressive than Kasumi expected it was supposed to be. On the far end there was a window, just above a rather odd-looking toilet. The door to the cell was not any kind of bar, but rather it was some large material that bore a surprising resemblance to plexiglass: through it, she could see the cell opposite from hers, which housed what looked like a woman with four eyes and bat-like wings. She could also see the two praetorin guards standing by both her cell and the cell opposite hers.

She shrugged, sitting back down on the cot. Her eyes turned to the air conditioning vent above her. "Hm..." She turned back to the guards, rubbing her chin as she crossed her legs. "Gotta give 'em credit, they made this place hard to break out of without them noticing..."

She then looked back, looking to the slots in the plexiglass. There was of course a door to permit entrance into the sell: this was seemingly packed as if it were preparing for a vacuum of some kind. She also noticed a kind of contraption that would open so food would be handed to her. She saw nothing was in there at that moment, and so she leaned back, her finger tapping against the corner of her mouth.

She sighed, looking out the window again. "Hm... I wonder..." She shook her head, before turning to the toilet. She sighed, looking up at anything she could use in the cell.

From outside, she could hear a guard cough. She nodded, looking at the lack of any noticeable tech on them. She knew they had to have something: after all, they would be stupid to leave it alone. She herself was not unprepared for this kind of eventuality, but she had to know the guards were as well. It would change her whole approach, after all.

She smirked, glancing at a piece of her cowl that they had not taken away.

 _Just bide your time..._  she thought.  _You'll be out of here in no time._

And so, she crossed her legs, placing her hands on top of them as she looked to the guards.

_It should be the next meal time. I wonder when they'll come around..._

* * *

Sura leaned against the bulkhead, looking right at the aqueron in question. He sat on the floor as before, tapping his foot against the floor.

"You know they will be back," the aqueron said.

Sura nodded. "We'll only be here until Jodie comes back," she said.

"And you are certain she will be back before they send another detail to inspect the ship," the aqueron replied.

"No," said Sura. "But I have a way out."

"I hope that does not hinge on me being a hostage," the aqueron replied.

"It won't come to that," Sura replied. She shrugged. "If it gets to that, trust me, you'll be the first guy to go."

The aqueron sighed. "Do you think you will be able to do it?" he asked.

Sura sighed, tapping her fingers against her bicep. "I don't know," she admitted. "I know it'll be necessary to protect people, but at the same time..." She looked back at the aqueron. "You  _are_ a living being. That wouldn't make it wrong, yeah?"

The aqueron frowned. "You would share such a kindness with someone of a species you find hostile?" he asked.

"Of course," said Sura. "Why wouldn't you."

The aqueron shook his head, looking down at the floor. "You continue to amaze me..." he said. He then looked up. "You only caught... impressions when you were in my mind, no?"

"Yeah," said Sura. "And I didn't see anything relating to what this Great Purge was, either. You weren't there for that, were you?"

"I was not," said the aqueron. "In fact, many of my comrades were not. We have just heard what happened from the previous generation." He sighed, looking down. "I wonder if it is better that way."

Sura turned away, looking up at the ceiling. "Sometimes, it is," she said. "You know of the quarians, no?" she asked.

"Of course," said the aqueron. "The nomads of your galaxy."

Sura nodded. "My dad was a quarian," she said. "He was alive when the quarians lost Rannoch. He died in the ensuing war..." She shook her head. "You never forget where you were when that sort of thing happens."

The aqueron pursed his mouth together, before turning his attention up to the asari. "Do you remember?" he asked.

"Like it happened yesterday," she said. "I was with mom: we were both on the Citadel at that time. We were going to move there: she'd taken a job as a schoolteacher, but he still had some business to take care of on Rannoch." She sighed. "I was playing some crappy military shooter game when it happened. There I was, shooting up some generic krogan grunts on a holographic projector, and then mom came rushing in, telling me to check the news." She sighed. "Dad managed to survive the initial attack, from what I know. He died about four months into that."

The aqueron nodded. "I'm sorry for your loss," he said.

Sura nodded grimly. "It's been three hundred years," she replied. "I'm over it by now. Hell, mom probably would've checked me into a mental hospital by now if I  _wasn't_. Because grieving the same guy for three hundred years is  _very_ healthy."

Despite himself, the aqueron chuckled. "I suppose that is true," he said. "I assume he would have been dead by now anyway."

"That's the problem with being an asari," she said. "The only other people likely to live as long as you are krogan, and it'd probably be easier to find ways you  _couldn't_ piss one off." She shrugged. "It's so weird to see the quarians in the place they are..."

"I suppose you take a liking to this quarian, then," said the aqueron.

Sura nodded. "He's a good kid," she said. "Dreams of touching stars and all that, but his heart's in the right place."

The aqueron bowed his head forward, before looking to the ground. "I see all peoples have men like that," he said.

"Well, nobody would be complete without them," said Sura. "And somewhere, I think our fearless leader knows that."

"Do you still think she will return before they come and inspect this ship again?" the aqueron asked.

"We'll see," Sura said. "But let's keep the hope alive, right?"

The aqueron bowed his head. "Perhaps."

He then turned away, his expression unreadable. The asari simply shrugged, before turning back to the door. She then sighed, walking out of the room.

"I'm going to get some rations," she said. "I'll be right back."

* * *

Jodie sat at a decrepit bench, one of the boards sinking under her weight in a way that threw off her balance. She looked back at the Tower, which was at that point some distance away. It loomed over all, Jodie finding the tower intimidating even after all she saw of it.

She also found it somewhat perplexing. Of course, she knew what the aqueron had told her; but seeing it for herself, and further seeing that there was a security checkpoint on the way to the only real entrance she could see herself able to use, she was still no further than she was before.

"How do we even break in there..." she whispered to herself. She then glanced up at Aiden. "Knowing what they have in the security checkpoints, they'd probably accounted for you inside the actual prison, too."

Aiden clicked his agreement, causing Jodie to sit back and look up. At this point, the bench creaked under her further, causing Jodie to shift her position.  _If only we had a way to get over there..._

Jodie stood up, before she then walked on.  _Well, I better get back to the others,_  she thought.  _I haven't had any luck so far, so maybe if I talked to them I could-_

And then, Aiden gave a rather loud trill. This caused Jodie to pause, and she looked up at the entity with a frown.  _What is it, Aiden?_  she asked.

Jodie heard the sound of something large hitting the ground. She then turned to her right, seeing that she was standing right next to an alleyway. The alleyway was dark, almost foreboding to enter. At the lip of it was a toppled trash bin; from the way one of the contents was still rolling away, Jodie assumed it was the work of Aiden. She glanced further down the dark alleyway, her gaze turning to Aiden momentarily.

The second she turned her foot to walk away, though, she thought she heard a soft whimper, amplified a few times by the alleyway. Jodie stopped, looking deep within the darkness. She saw very little there, but something held her in place.

 _Aiden_? she asked.

The entity gurgled. Shortly afterwards, Jodie blinked, stepping over the downed trash can and slowly making her way into the darkness. However, as her eyes adjusted, she saw that there was what looked like a black bag draped over a couple of pipes. She approached, pulling the bag away.

She saw someone scramble away from the entrance of the bag; Jodie frowned, seeing a younger version of one of the winged men she saw in her dream, though this one looked absolutely terrified. He looked up at her with four widened eyes, pushing himself away from her.

"Shit... not now... not this soon..." he whispered, turning away from Jodie.

"Whoah, hold on there!" said Jodie. "I'm not going to-"

Aiden could only screech in warning, before Jodie saw the young one reach for something within the enclosure. She then ducked, a piece of stone sailing past the point where her head had been barely a second earlier. The other than got to his feet, Jodie noticing he was holding back a cry of pain as he stumbled down the alley. He made it about three paces, before he suddenly collapsed on the ground, letting out a quiet moan of agony.

And that was when Jodie looked down and saw the way his lower leg was. Even though it looked like a quarian's appendage, Jodie saw that the leg was bent oddly. At the spot of the slight bend, she saw a large bruise, the contrast of purple blot against the pale white of the being's skin popping out despite the darkness. Jodie slowly approached, before kneeling down by the injured leg.

"What... what happened?" Jodie asked.

"Broke it jumping down... agh..." The strange being pointed up, before turning to Jodie. "Don't turn me in, please... I can't go back, not now..."

Jodie frowned, before shaking her head. She then put her hands on the leg, hearing the young man's hiss of pain.

"Sh," Jodie said, comfortingly patting the being's leg. "I'm not gonna hurt you. Just lie still..."

She then leaned forward, her hand gently gliding along the leg. She felt the shape of the bone, being careful not to press down too hard over the site where she saw the leg bend. She then nodded, looking up at the youth.

"Hold still," she said. "This might hurt a bit."

With this, she did what she could to straighten the appendage. The being beneath her let out a whine of pain, his eyes squeezing shut as she moved gently. She nodded, turning her attention to the injury.

 _Okay, Aiden,_  she thought.  _Do your best._

The entity gurgled, before Jodie felt Aiden right by the strange being's leg. She looked up at him, giving him a reassuring nod before she turned her attention back to the leg.

And then, in front of her eyes, the wound seemed to mend itself. The bruise vanished, and then Jodie watched as the young man she was attending to looked down in surprise. After a few seconds, the bruise was mostly gone: the splotch has certainly lessened, and the leg looked about right.

"That's all I can do for now," said Jodie.

The being slowly sat up, looking at Jodie with an expression of awe. "A spirit-touched..." he observed.

Jodie chuckled. "Or so I've heard," she said. "What brings you here?"

"I could ask the same about you," the other replied. "Articians almost never come here, and a spirit-touched stopping by this district is unheard of."

Jodie chuckled, remembering information that the aqueron had told her about this wing. "Well, I like exploring," Jodie replied. "What else can I say?"

The aqueron flashed her a smile. "You too, huh?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Jodie. She then shrugged. "I don't see any reason to turn you in, either... do you need someone?"

He glanced down, all four of his eyes turning to a corner. "Why do you ask?" he said.

"I don't know," said Jodie. "But I've got a feeling you've been stuck all alone for some time."

The four-eyed being smiled. "That's very kind of you," he said. He then shrugged. "I guess it won't do any harm. Stay a minute."

Jodie nodded, watching as the other began to crawl back towards the cover she had found him in.

* * *

Legion floated in a strange space it did not recognize. The geth's multitude of programs floated around, catching impressions of the world around it.

From what it could tell, there was very little around it which could be hacked. The programs milled about, examining the surroundings again. It had calculated that perhaps this new galaxy would be careful about how they stored this geth unit, and this was evidenced by how it hovered around its own space.

It clicked, the flashlight head blinking open.

The geth saw it was in a room made almost entirely of rubber. The room contained no electronics, nothing the geth could use to hack its way out of its present predicament. And that worried the machine: there was no way to guarantee its survival as long as it was a captive of this strange galaxy.

But nevertheless, the geth unit began calculating as it observed its environment. It knew that all security had a flaw, no matter how perfect it was. It had narrowly escaped batarian raids on its way to discover Shepard-Commander's trail, and knew that anything could be cracked with enough dedication. It knew Goto-Thief and Valentine-Pilot were elsewhere in the building, but not where exactly. Nor did it have a map of the facilities to formulate an escape plan.

But the geth knew its first destination.

It wondered briefly what Holmes-Anomaly was doing at that moment. The human had been rather adamant about entering this galaxy: it only hoped that the human was taking full advantage of the opportunity that was laid at her feet.

It quickly dispelled this, however, upon hearing the door open. A technician came in, Legion instantly recognizing the glowing eyes.

"Don't bother," it said. "I have anti-hacking protocols in place. The second you try anything, I'll have you hacked out of your body."

The geth said nothing, but it began to run equations in its mind based on Kasumi's data. Legion then kept its gaze on the operative, possibilities beginning to appear in its programming.

But Legion waited as the technician approached. After all, all one thousand one hundred and eighty three programs knew that it was best to wait and see what would happen. If presented with an opportunity, the geth knew it would take it.

And so, it turned its attention to the exion, some of the programs retreating within as the operative approached with an OSD.

* * *

"So what's your name?"

The strange being looked at Jodie as they settled under the black bag. He paused, before blinking uncertainly and glancing off to the side.

"Um... Sa'lem," the youth replied.

Jodie nodded. "That's a lovely name," she said. "I've known a couple of people with a similar name, actually."

"Really?" asked Sa'lem. "Were they nice?"

Jodie nodded, thinking back to little Salim. "He was a bright spot in a place without hope," she said. She then sighed, looking at the ground as old regrets filled her. "I don't know if he wants to talk to me now, though. Even if he could..."

"Oh." Sa'lem nodded. "I'm sorry to hear that." He then shifted, looking at Jodie. "So, uh... what's your name?"

Jodie turned, looking over at Sa'lem. She of course had thought of adopting an artician name in case she needed one, but she had not been sure she would need it. Still, she had run the possibilities in her head earlier; it was difficult to do off of just one name, but their aqueron prisoner had been helpful in giving them a few names to give her an idea of how artician etymology worked.

And thus, she shrugged as she looked at the youth. "Elzabet Norh," she replied.

Sa'lem nodded. "Thank you, Elzabet," he replied. "It's good to know there's  _one_ artician out there that  _hasn't_ proclaimed total allegiance to the top dogs."

Jodie rose an eyebrow, placing her hands on her lap. "You mean most of them don't?" she asked.

"Of course not," said Sa'lem. "Their supreme leader was the head of this whole thing, so of  _course_ they're not going to complain." He shook his head. "And meanwhile, the rest of us are down here, strangling 'cause of them. And nobody'll stand up to it."

Jodie frowned. "I... see..." she said, glancing away.

"What, you're surprised?" asked Sa'lem. "The galaxy goes straight to shit and you're surprised someone is piping up about it?"

"Well... no, but..." Jodie shrugged. "I guess I just wasn't so used to hearing that from my first encounter with... um... one of you." She chuckled restlessly."

Sa'lem frowned. "Wait, you've never even met a tolahña before?" he asked.

 _Ah... So_ these  _are the tolahñas our prisoner mentioned..._  "No," she said. "I... have had a fairly sheltered life..."

"It shows," Sa'lem replied. He shook his head. "Still, I'm happy you're not a faithful puppy of theirs."

"Well, after seeing the state this place is in, I don't know how you could..." Jodie replied.

Sa'lem smiled. "You get it," he said. "Unfortunately, the ones who can do something won't do anything. They're all so obsessed with revenge..."

"They are..." Jodie shrugged. "I wonder if they realize just what kind of mess they'll get themselves into..."

"If they know it, they don't care," said Sa'lem. He shook his head. "Sorry for getting all philosophical, there. I needed to vent."

"We all need that," said Jodie. She then turned to the tolahña. "Say, Sa'lem?"

"Yeah?" he asked.

She looked at the Tower. "Do you wonder... Have you seen any people from that other galaxy we're supposed to be fighting against are in there?" she asked.

Sa'lem blinked. "Don't tell me you didn't hear the news!" he said. "Of course we do! They arrested a couple of spies acting against Supreme Commander Shardan!"

"They did, hm?" asked Jodie, feeling a wave of relief wash over her.

"Yeah," said the tolahña. "They're even supposed to publicly flog one of them tomorrow."

Aiden trilled in shock upon hearing this, before turning to Sa'lem. "Wait, public flogging?" she asked.

"Yes," said Sa'lem. "It's supposed to get them information. If you can't beat them, humiliate them." He then scoffed. "Not sure what that's supposed to accomplish..."

And then, Jodie found herself glancing at the ground. She tuned out of what Sa'lem was saying, thoughts running wild through her head. The fact that public floggings were a thing in this galaxy. The fact that she had some idea where it might occur. The fact that it was one of her friends from their galaxy.

 _Xerxes..._  she thought, breathing in.

Aiden chirped, to which Jodie gave a small nod.

"...ean, you have to wonder at some people. I'm not even sure it-"

"When is it?" asked Jodie.

Sa'lem blinked. "Okay, hang on," he said. "You're not saying you  _seriously_ want to go see it, do you?"

Jodie nodded. "I have to," she said. "If only to see for myself if they can bleed like we do."

Sa'lem frowned. "You're one  _very_ strange artician, Elzabet," he replied. "That sounds pretty sadistic."

"What?" asked Jodie. "This is my first time out of... well, home." She chuckled nervously. "Can you blame me for being curious?"

"If it involves watching people get flogged, yeah," said Sa'lem.

Jodie shook her head. "I want to see what they look like," she said. "Please, take me to the flogging. I know it sounds weird, but I need to go."

Sa'lem frowned, before sighing and shaking his head. "I swear to the spirits, this isn't going to end well..." He then crossed his arms. "Fine. I'll take you there. But I want  _nothing_ to do with it."

"We'll be out of there before it gets too intense," she said. "I just want a look..."

"Fine," said Sa'lem. He sighed, mumbling something under his breath before he turned away from Jodie.

Jodie sighed, looking up. However, as she looked up, she started, glancing back at Sa'lem.

 _Shit,_  she thought.  _Shit..._

* * *

Kalo stood at the window, glancing through the cracks in the boards that barred it from sight. He tapped his hand against the boards, before glancing back at Ashley and Kolyat.

The young drell held a pistol in his hand, aiming it forward. He heard Ashley give commands to Kolyat, but what they were about he was not certain. Kalo was not paying attention, after all, as his thoughts turned to Jodie as soon as he heard the words. As this continued to happen, he turned his attention back out, sighing before he turned away.

" _Keelah,_  she should be back by now..." he whispered.

He walked past Ashley and Kolyat, startling both of them as he walked into their hiding spot. Ashley paused, Kolyat lowering the pistol as they looked at him.

"Jodie?" Kolyat asked.

Kalo nodded. "Where is she?" he asked. "She said she would be back by now, but..."

"She probably just got delayed," said Ashley. She then approached the quarian. "I'm sure she's fine, Kalo."

"I am not," the quarian replied. He shook his head. "Dammit, I should have gone with her."

"But then you'd be spotted out there," said Ashley. She shrugged. "It'll be all right, Kalo. She's a smart girl. She wouldn't-"

And then, their omni-tools pinged. Kalo and Ashley looked at their omni-tools, Kolyat stepping close to them. Kalo then opened his omni-tool, the quarian frowning as he opened the message. His eyes widened as soon as he saw the sender, however, and he scrolled down.

" _Kalo,_

_Hey, it's Jodie. Sorry, I might not be returning for some time. I met a friend. I might be able to do some recon with his help. I'll message you again in a few days._

_-Jodie_ "

The quarian sighed in relief as he closed his omni-tool.

"Well?" Ashley asked.

"Seems she has befriended someone," said the quarian.

Kolyat frowned. "She what?" he asked. "Why would she do that?"

"I don't know," said Kalo. "But she said she thinks this friend can help the recon effort. I can only hope she will be all right."

"We'll have to hope," said Ashley. "But if I know Jodie, she'll be all right. She can take care of herself. For now, let's not worry about it until we hear from her again." She then turned to Kolyat. "Let's talk about that pistol one more time, and then we'll go to sleep on it, all right?"

"Uh... sure," Kolyat said, raising the pistol again. Ashley then walked up to Kolyat, correcting his stance a little bit.

Kalo walked away, stepping into the room to the side that Kolyat had uncovered. He sat on the remains of a tattered bed, the springs squeaking under his weight. His thoughts turned to Jodie, and as he laid back all sorts of questions raced through his mind. And as he tossed possibilities of what could happen at that point, he found himself unable to muster the will to sleep.


	11. Chapter Eleven

Jodie roused from her sleep, looking over at the spot next to her. Sa'lem still lay there, the tolahña snoring softly. Jodie could only smile, turning away from the youth and letting out a soft sigh.

 _Well, this has taken a turn for the interesting,_  she thought. She then looked up at Aiden, pulling her legs in close. She stared at where she assumed the entity was, before finally glancing back to the tolahña that slept next to her.  _You think he'll be an asset, Aiden?_

The entity chirped uncertainly.  _Maybe,_  Jodie replied.  _But you know friends are hard to come by in this place_.

The entity gurgled low, but Jodie paid no attention. She turned away, feeling her face. She then frowned, looking down at the youth.  _You know... we'll have to find something to conceal ourselves with,_  she thought.  _If we go in there like this, Xerxes will recognize me._

Aiden trilled at Jodie, but she shook her head in protest.  _I know you want to help them as much as I do,_  she thought.  _But if he recognizes us and they catch on, it's all over for us, Aiden. We can't let ourselves be revealed too early, and anyway we'll be back for him before long._

Aiden gurgled before long, to which Jodie chuckled mirthlessly.  _Heh,_ she thought.  _And usually **you're** the one telling me to be cautious._ She shook her head, holding some of her hair in her face.  _You think you can find anything that can help conceal my face, if he can't?_

Aiden chirped, and that ended the conversation. Jodie nodded, turning back to Sa'lem. She nodded, breathing in nervously as she leaned back against the nearby wall.

* * *

Valentine stirred, blearily blinking as he looked up. The chair he was seated in was a little small for his size, something even he seemed to recognize as his arms seemed to feel constricted more than they should have been. His legs were shackled up to the chair's legs, and Valentine found he could only move his torso. He breathed in steadily, looking at the table directly in front of him, and how the dim lighting only seemed to highlight so much.

 _Still_ , the pilot thought.  _It could be much worse..._

The pilot sighed, his mind drifting back to the torture he had endured the day before. His body still ached all over, even though whatever drugs they had given him had long since passed through his system. He still had to glance down to see that his leg was indeed still there, though he didn't trust his own very bleary eyesight. The lights still hurt him, and he was thankful that they were only dimmed in this room.

He briefly wondered if they would ever do that to him again. Circumstances told him they probably would, but he hoped for the best.

He heard the door open, the sound surprisingly not as harsh on his ears as he expected. He then heard a few footsteps, and he glanced up to see the same praetorin who had arrested him walking in. He took a seat across the table from Valentine, the pilot only able to blink as the admiral sat down.

A thick silence then settled between the two of them. The door closing was the only sound heard for a few seconds, Valentine simply remaining quiet as he turned his gaze to the imposing praetorin. Neither of them said a word, the admiral appraising Valentine with narrowed eyes.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the admiral bowed his head. "I apologize for the other day," he said. "Those were not my orders that I gave."

Valentine only grunted in reply. "Didn't seem like it, from how eager they were," he replied.

"The DGI can be a little...  _overzealous_ , shall we say," the admiral replied. "They tend to use extreme interrogation in this galaxy. Paranoia, you see."

"And you're any better?" Valentine asked.

"Only if you cooperate," said the admiral.

"You're looking for the wrong guy to cooperate," Valentine replied, surprising himself with how husky his voice came out. "Or, you were, while you were still doing whatever it was you were doing with those drugs."

The admiral frowned as he leaned forward, his elbows resting on the table. "I'm aware of that," he said. "But at the same time, I find it difficult to blame them. You are aware of what happened that your people caused, no?"

"I still don't know," said Valentine. "All I know, is you guys have people set up in our galaxy, you're doing something fishy, and we're here to find out what that is."

"Your species really has that short a memory span?" asked the admiral.

"It's more like nobody ever told us what this is all about," Valentine replied.

The admiral tapped his fingers against the table. "I was told to expect that response," he replied. "That it would be a way to evade the question."

"Well, they're telling you lies," Valentine replied. "What is the Great Purge?"

The praetorin shook his head. "You forget that you are the one being interrogated, not I."

"Trust me, I know," said Valentine. "But if I'm asking about something that's supposed to be common knowledge and I know nothing about it, I hardly think that's an interrogation."

The admiral paused, looking at Valentine. He then nodded, tapping his hand against the table. "You bring up a compelling point," he admitted. "But regardless, it's off-topic." He pushed himself to a standing position. He then looked down. "Who sent you to investigate us?"

"We did," said Valentine. "We're our own band. We don't answer to  _anyone_."

"I doubt you would do this to satisfy your own curiosity," said the admiral.

Valentine sighed. "Perhaps," he said. "But we only sell to the highest bidder. We're...  _mercenaries_ , you see."

The admiral frowned at him. "You have such an awfully small company for being mercenaries," he replied.

"Makes it easier to do recon," said Valentine. "You don't expect us. You only got lucky."

"Big words for someone so easy to capture," said the admiral. "I may not like that attitude, but I admire your pluckiness in the face of our torture."

"Well, I have my ways," Valentine replied.

"So who are you selling to?" asked the admiral.

"Depends," he said, softly. "We've got a... few clients who might be interested in what we have. Haven't settled on any one, though."

"And who are they?" asked the admiral.

Valentine frowned. "That's the part that's classified," said Valentine. "But I imagine that won't stop you from trying to get it out of me."

The admiral chuckled good-naturedly. "A prisoner who's refreshingly honest with themselves," he observed. "I like that."

"Hey, you gotta have some of that in this business, you know?" he asked.

The admiral nodded. "Indeed," he said. He then leaned forward, looking directly at Valentine. "Where are the rest of your friends?"

Valentine looked the praetorin directly in the eyes. And as Valentine focused, he was able to make out the details of the admiral's scales. He found himself able to open his eyes without them hurting him, and this came to the pilot's great relief.

"You've been scanning the areas, right?" asked Valentine. "You'll find your answer there."

* * *

The aqueron was woken up by the sound of the lab door opening. As soon as he looked up, he noticed Sura walking in, the asari holding two rations in her hands. She walked around the table in the center, before kneeling in front of the aqueron.

"Rise and shine, buttercup," Sura said as she placed one of the rations down.

The aqueron blinked, sitting back up as he looked at the asari. "Mm... Morning already?" he asked.

"Yeah, sorry," said Sura. "But I'm used to rising pretty early." She then looked down at the ration, before opening it.

The aqueron adjusted his position, before looking at Sura. "And what was that you called me?" asked the aqueron. "Buttercup?"

"Oh, it's just something humans say," Sura replied as he pulled a seal on the ration. "From what my coworkers tell me, it's supposed to be some flower found on Earth."

"Oh." The aqueron nodded. "Well, I'm flattered that you would compare me to a flower."

"Don't get too cocky, it's supposed to be poisonous to some species," Sura replied.

The aqueron's eyes narrowed, and Sura instantly had the feeling he was staring just past her. "Right..." he said. "I should have expected there would be a catch."

"Well, there it is," said Sura.

She shrugged, before looking down at a strange brown hash. She poked at it with the ration fork, revealing a layer of a pale blue jelly underneath. Her brows furrowed as this occurred, and she continued to poke at the ration.

"Is there something odd about the ration?" asked the aqueron.

"Maybe?" Sura said. She shrugged. "I find it odd that they threw in an asari dish." She shook her head. "Or a humanized version of it, anyway."

The aqueron's frown was piercing as he looked at Sura. "That is a dish from your homeworld?" he asked.

"Mom used to make it all the time when I was a kid," she replied as she turned her gaze to the ceiling. "It's this little fruit jam that's put inside this starchy little crust of sorts. I remember whenever she'd make it, there'd be nothing that could stop me from running in there and devouring it. Dad always had to lecture me about table manners afterward." She chuckled, smiling. "Man, that takes me back."

"You're surprisingly sentimental for someone such as yourself," said the aqueron.

"I can't help it," she replied. "I had a pretty good family life when I was growing up. You tend to remember that, no?"

"I suppose that's true," the aqueron stated. He paused, his legs splaying out. "I wish I could say the same for myself."

Sura looked up. "No real family life for you?" she guessed.

The aqueron's head reared back, eyes narrowed as he swallowed a lump in his throat. "How did you know?" he asked.

"I saw it for a second when I entered your mind," said Sura. "You  _do_ remember that you were caught off guard, right? That allows me to see more things..."

He sighed. "You're right, of course," he replied. "I was never in a stable home growing up."

"You're fairly articulate for someone who was in that situation," Sura replied.

"I found my escape in tales of heroes," the aqueron replied. "The aquerons are full of such tales of honor and heroism. Perhaps I should tell you the tale of brave Auro Rouri some day."

"Honor, huh? So that's why you're in a black ops unit," Sura noted.

"The irony is not lost on us," he replied. "But we have always had those with our code of honor, and those without. We also have a duty to fulfill to our superiors. In that way, we fulfill our honor."

Sura paused, considering his words. "I don't suppose we've tarnished that for you, hm?" she asked.

"That's the strange part," said the aqueron as his scaley brows pulled back slightly. "I don't know if I have sullied my honor. I serve this galaxy, and yet I am being met with information about your galaxy that conflicts with everything they have said. Giving deceitful information is considered dishonorable, and this seems to me that it is that caliber of information."

"And you're not sure if honor can be sullied if it was based on dishonor, is that it?" asked Sura.

"Yes," said the aqueron. He frowned, one of the frills on the side of his face twitching. "You know, that sounds so awkward from your lips."

Sura chuckled. "It does, doesn't it?" she asked. She shrugged, looking back at the ration. "Sorry. I was going to feed this to you."

"Are you sure you don't wish to eat it yourself?" asked the aqueron.

Sura shook her head. "I can get it for like two credits on Thessia. That, and I've eaten this stuff literally thousands of times by now." She then gestured to the aqueron with her hand. "This is your first time trying it. I'm not going to take that from you." She then shrugged, digging into the food with the ration fork. "So here, let's take care of that, no?"

The aqueron nodded, opening his mouth. Sura broke off a piece, feeding it to the other rather slowly. As soon as the aqueron was chewing, his eyes bulged out a little, and his chewing slowed down somewhat. His mouth twitched upwards slightly, and after a few seconds he swallowed rather effortlessly.

"It's a strange flavor," he said. "But it's not one I can say I dislike."

Sura smiled. "That's about what I thought," she said. "If you don't like a good old Thessian biscuit, you're shit out of luck." She paused, before breaking another piece of the food off with the fork. "I wonder how they made it with human ingredients."

"That perhaps is a question better asked some other time," said the aqueron. "For now, we should both eat, no?"

"True," said Sura as she stabbed the piece she broke off with the fork. "Here."

And the aqueron seemed all too eager to open his mouth to accept the next bite.

* * *

"And how does this work?"

Sa'lem handed Jodie another cloth that he had picked up from the scattered shawls all around the floor of the alley. Jodie glanced at the cloth, before taking it in her hands and inspecting it. This cloth was a dark brown, almost opaque, and Jodie could see many hand-woven designs in the cloth. It reminded her of Kalo's suit, even if the specific shapes of the patternwork had more jagged edges. It was very delicately embroidered, and Jodie could not help but feel a pang of jealousy as she saw the intricacy of the patterns.

She held it against her clothes, noting that the dark brown of the cloth melded rather well with the rest of her outfit. She nodded, looking up at the tolahña as she then opened the cloth out slightly.

"It'll do," she said, carefully wrapping the shawl around her head so that her dark brown locks were concealed. "It'll do." With this, she hid her nose and mouth behind the cloth.

Sa'lem nodded, crossing his arms. "There you go," he said. "You look just like a regular old  _sparnam_  dweller."

Jodie chuckled. "I'm surprised you didn't think to ask me about that earlier," Jodie replied.

"Well, Elzabet, you never know," Sa'lem replied. "I didn't want to pry. My manservant tells me it's rude to pry."

Jodie paused. "Manservant?" she asked.

"Druvak," Sa'lem replied. "He's a ra'ken, just like all the ones around here."

"Oh." Jodie glanced around the area they were in. She gingerly stepped over the other cloths on the ground so she wouldn't dirty any of them, before standing next to Sa'lem. "So is everyone else here a servant?"

"Mostly," said Sa'lem. He growled. "Though some here don't have a job. It's kind of sad, really."

"Oh..." They then walked off through the streets again, Jodie seeing all the shambling insect-like creatures that populated it. "Is that why some of them don't look so well?"

"Yeah," Sa'lem replied. They both stared at a ra'ken sitting to the side. This ra'ken's carapace was a sickly yellow-brown, something paralleled in the way his antennae drooped. "Some don't get lucky. There are supposed to be all sorts of things to help people like this, but nothing's come of them. It's like nobody cares about them anymore."

"Who can, when the place is so..." Jodie turned her gaze to the ground. "Something needs to be done about all this."

Sa'lem smiled, his eyes shining happily. "Glad I'm not the only one who sees that." He shook his head, his expression falling. "And yet we're still going to the humiliation. I'm not so sure you'll like that kind of distraction from this."

Jodie frowned. "Maybe not," she said. "But it's not quite the end of the world, no?"

Sa'lem shook his head. "Tell that to a lot of people there, and you'd probably get a lot of dirty looks," he replied. "But as it is... You're right. It's not." He looked towards the Tower, rubbing his arm. "Well, we don't want to go the way everyone else does," he observed. "We'll just get caught that way."

"So what do we do, then?" Jodie asked.

Sa'lem nods, walking forward. "We go the way I usually do in this situation," he said. "Follow me. I'll get us to a place we can cross to the other curve without being noticed."

He then walked a little faster. Jodie followed, careful to keep the cloth wrapped around her head.

* * *

Sa'lem led Jodie up to a little building. From the top of the small abode, she saw the security station to go into the next wing. It seemed a little small, but she could at least clearly see all the people working at and going through the checkpoint. She could scarcely make out any details, but it was enough that she wondered if they could see her up there.

She was interrupted in her musing by Sa'lem nudging her arm. "Okay, here we are," Sa'lem replied.

Jodie turned to Sa'lem, looking across the gap. As Jodie suspected, the gap had lessened closer to where they joined up, and she looked over to the other end. She saw a building, about the same height as the one Jodie stood on. She noticed that the gap was rather shorter up there, but still would take some considerable distance to get across. She also noticed how much better kempt the other building was, but she did not dwell on that.

She turned to Sa'lem. "So this is how, huh?" She pointed to the security gate. "And they won't see us?"

"They won't care enough to look up," Sa'lem replied. "They've got their hands full already. Security station workers are overworked as is, and it doesn't help that their superiors can be rather... terrible, if they're caught slacking."

"Technically they'd be slacking by not making sure all the borders were secure," Jodie replied.

"Don't tell that to their superiors," said Sa'lem. He shrugged. "Anyway, the gravity between this building and the one over there is lessened a little bit. We can cross here, though we'll need a different way to cross back."

"Regardless of whether we're found out or not?" Jodie asked.

"Well, if I'm found out, I won't have to worry about crossing these things illegally," he replied. "But on top of that, on the way back we'd be going against the rotation of the Obschesto. If we tried, we'd end up a couple floors down." He shook his head. "If that ra'ken family I encountered the last time I fell in there is still there, we'll have more problems than just a public relations nightmare."

"Oh." Jodie nodded. She then gestured to Sa'lem. "Well, I guess you go first."

"Of course." Sa'lem then stepped back a couple of paces, Jodie standing off to the side. Sa'lem breathed in and out, preparing himself for the jump as he bent his knees.

The tolahña then tapped his foot on the ground, tapping it again and launching forward. He approached the edge of the building, and as soon as he reached the end he leapt off. Jodie turned, Sa'lem seeming to glide gracefully in the reduced gravity between the segments of the Obschesto. After a few seconds, Sa'lem landed gracefully on the other side.

Once there, he turned to Jodie, beckoning her to leap across with a hand gesture. Jodie nodded, herself stepping back to get a running start. She glanced up at Aiden, the entity chirping nervously as she breathed in.

 _Here goes,_  she said.

She then dashed forward, following Sa'lems motions exactly. As soon as she leapt from the building, she had a brief moment of panic where she passed over the gap between the curves of the Obschesto. But this moment briefly passed as soon as she edged closer to the building on Sa'lem's side. She then braced herself for the landing, her legs bending a little.

She stumbled upon landing, but otherwise managed to pick herself back up. She nodded to Sa'lem, before the tolahña turned to the rest of the curve.

"Oh, by the way: welcome to the good part of the Obschesto, Elzabet."

Jodie looked out, seeing that this curve was almost completely different. It seemed far more polished, with streets that almost shined with how clean they were and buildings that were in far better condition. It was almost like a white-washed version of the district she had just left, and down below she could see all sorts of people walking about in somewhat better clothing than what she saw.

"Who lives here, the elites of everyone?" Jodie asked.

"Government officials, mostly," said Sa'lem. "But also their families..." He shrugged. "Surprised you're asking, of all people."

"Sorry, I'm still in shock a bit from what I just saw," Jodie replied, swallowing. "Sorry, I don't think I've ever been far from here."

"Sounds familiar," said Sa'lem. He then nodded, walking over to one corner of the building. Jodie noticed he approached a ladder. "Here. It's down this ladder, and we'll be on the street. Try not to attract too much attention."

Jodie nodded. "Sure, Sa'lem," she said. She followed the tolahña there.

And as soon as Jodie approached, they both descended the ladder, Jodie being careful not to touch Sa'lem's head.

* * *

Kolyat placed the gun on the floor, sighing nervously as he looked down at it.

"That'll do," said Ashley. "We'll take a short break."

The drell nodded, sitting down as his eyelids nictated. He paused, glancing over to where Kalo sat fiddling with a spare piece of technology he had found elsewhere in the apartment. The drell nodded, pulling his legs up to his chest as he turned his gaze towards the wall.

Ashley noticed this, immediately placing her own pistol on a nearby table and walking so she stood next to the young drell. "What's on your mind?" she asked.

Kolyat swallowed a lump in his throat, turning to Ashley. "How does it feel?" he asks. "I mean... to kill someone?"

Ashley blinked, Kalo turning to the young drell curiously. "Just in general?" Ashley asked.

"Yeah..." said Kolyat. He sighed.

The gunnery chief sat next to Kolyat, sitting Indian style by his side. "It's... I don't know anymore," said Ashley. "I've gotten used to that feeling. You wonder sometimes what could've been, but you don't have time to worry about it."

Kolyat scoffed. "So that's it," he said. "You just feel empty."

"Well... you never forget your first kill," said Ashley. "The first one is always the hardest."

Kolyat shuddered, looking up at Ashley. "And then it's easy from there?"

"Usually," said Ashley. "It's never easy though. Not really. You still feel that pang from time to time."

Kolyat sighed. "Good." He sighed, his eyes watering slightly. "It's... I'm a little scared."

"Of what?" asked Ashley.

"Of having to kill for the first time..." Kolyat shook his head, pulling his legs closer. "I just... You don't think I'll turn into a monster when I kill someone, do you?"

Ashley shook her head. "No," she said. She paused. "You usually don't."

"But what if I do?" asked Kolyat. He sighed. "I'm... I'm going here, trying to not get caught, and that means I'll have to kill someone. And if I've never done that before, how do I know I won't come to love it? I mean... I'll be remembering every detail about it all the time, right? And if I feel anything at subsequent kills..." He shakes his head. "It's not like I can just forget it."

"Well, you don't ever forget it," said Ashley.

"No, you don't understand," said Kolyat as he turned to Ashley. "Drell have perfect memory."

Ashley blinked, before her eyes widened. "Wait, they do?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Kolyat. He glanced down. "It's a curse more than a blessing, sometimes." He shook his head, closing his eyes. "I'll always remember my first kill, and every kill after that, and..." He closed his eyes. "I'm so scared. I'm going to have killed someone, and I'm never going to stop asking myself who he was and who it was I just took someone from... And I'm just going to ask myself these things over and over again, and..." Kolyat closed his eyes. "I don't want to be an unfeeling monster."

Ashley nodded, shifting her posture so she could look at Kolyat better. She paused for a few seconds, studying the drell's expression. She noticed that tears threatened to spill from his eyes, and that his hands were a little more tense than she was used to seeing. She also noted that his feet were planted flat on the ground, and that he almost was trying to hide between his legs.

She gently placed a hand on Kolyat's shoulder. "You know what I think?" she asked.

Kolyat opened his eyes and looked at her. "What?" he asked.

"You'll be fine," she said. "And I mean that in 'you won't be a monster'. Here you are, stressing out about the fact that you might have to kill someone, and what you'd have to ask yourself afterwards. Everyone grapples with those questions after the fact, and if you're thinking like that before you've even pulled the trigger, then you've got a hell of a lot of empathy there. You get that, you've got no chance of becoming an unfeeling monster."

Kolyat blinked. "You sure about that?" he asked.

Ashley nodded reassuringly. "I'm sure," she said. "You'll be fine, Kolyat."

The drell nodded, wiping his face with his hand. "If you say so," he said, his voice breaking a little. "You sure know what to say."

"Hey, what're we here for, right?" asked Ashley.

"True," said Kolyat. He then nodded, sniffling. He wiped a tear from his face, before nodding. "I think I feel a bit better now. Thank you."

"Any time, soldier," said Ashley as she stood up. "I'll let you take a break. I should do maintenance on the guns."

Kolyat nodded as Ashley walked over to where she had placed her weapons. The drell turned to Kalo, seeing that the quarian had not moved since the start of the conversation. "Any word from Jodie?" he asked.

"No," said Kalo. "But I expect they will have a busy day today." He looked up. "In the meantime, I hope she is being cautious. I have managed to hack into their communications array."

Ashley turned to Kalo with surprise on her face. "You managed to do that without Legion or Kasumi?" Ashley asked.

"Kasumi taught me some techniques when there was a lull in action," Kalo replied. "Jodie also asked me to ensure I did this. Going back to the  _Lying Bastard_  is only an option if it is still open."

"That's a good point," Ashley conceded. "What've you got?"

"Nothing at the moment," said Kalo. "But I will alert you if something happens."

Ashley nodded. "Good," she said. "Keep at it, soldier."

With this, she turned back to her weapons, and Kolyat could hear the sound of an assault rifle being disassembled with greater care than usual.

* * *

Ru'val sat at his desk at his work place, datapads strewn all over the desk. They piled up a little high, an unusual feature in what was otherwise a room with stark white decoration. The decorations were sparse, with a portrait of a woman all decked in white on the far wall and a white desk lamp being the only decorations of note in the office. Ru'val had always hated the color scheme: it was never kind to his eyes, particularly in the lighting he was experiencing at that moment.

The tolahña picked a datapad off the desk, rubbing the area around his upper pair of eyes in frustration. He glanced at the contents, seeing it was yet another report about the movement of the information network after the fiasco that had occurred on Kahje. He caught mentions of the DGI, and how they were still scrambling to figure out how in the world a group that hid in a hanar-made pleasure yacht had picked up enough information to follow them to their center on Kahje, much less what they hoped to accomplish by visiting the Normandy's crash site.

The report mentioned it was believed they were bandits, but the DGI suspected more.

 _They_ always  _suspect more_ , Ru'val thought ruefully.

He put the report down, picking up another. He started scanning the report for more news, but found it was just another report on the progress of retaking one of the praetorin colonies from the devastation that had caused the colony to be abandoned in the wake of the Great Purge. Ru'val had recognized the name: it was one colony that had been debated about for almost five years. The fact that there was still nothing being done about it baffled Ru'val more than anything: it seemed nothing was being done in regards to that, if the numerous mentions of testing the air had any water in them.

And, as it were, there were still a few remnants left on the colony that had to be cleaned out. He swore the numbers of those had only decreased by double digits, out of hundreds that still had yet to be cleaned out. He wondered briefly if his coworkers should consider it a lost cause, but he thought better of it: others said it was vital to restoring some of the praetorin pride.

He sighed, placing the datapad back on his desk.

Immediately, he heard a knock at the door. He promptly sat up straight, quickly moving a few of the datapads to give the appearance of being orderly. "Yes?" he asked, his voice clear and annunciated.

The door opened, and in walked a younger praetorin guard. Ru'val immediately stood up, looking down at the praetorin.

"May I help you?" asked Ru'val.

"Yes, sir," said the praetorin. "I have an update on Sa'lem K'lek's location, sir."

Ru'val's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. "Already?" he asked.

"Are you surprised?" asked the praetorin.

"I... yes, actually," Ru'val replied. "He usually is not found this early. This is..." He then leaned forward. "Where is he?"

"He was last spotted with a veiled artician woman heading towards the Tayurmya," the praetorin said. "He was approaching it from the diplomat's district."

Ru'val's muscles tensed, his breath hitching. "What?" he asked.

"Is that so surprising?" asked the praetorin.

"Knowing Sa'lem, yes," said Ru'val as he walked around the desk quickly. "Please, where did you hear that report?"

"Just got it from a few guards surveying the public torture," said the praetorin. "We suspect he may be headed towards it."

"Of the dweller of another galaxy, no?" asked Ru'val. He approached the praetorin, bowing his head. "Please, take me to them."

"If you wish, sir," said the praetorin. "Right this way."

And with this, the praetorin left the room, Ru'val following him. His steps were quick, and the tolahña felt his heart run marathons as the possibilities of why Sa'lem would go to such a place raced through his mind.

* * *

"So once I am home with him, I am to tend to Young Master Sa'lem?"

" _Yes, Druvak. Please do this for me. If it's not you, it'll be them, and they'll be far less merciful. You know this, Ru'val._ "

"I do indeed, Master Ru'val. I will walk through the checkpoint soon."

" _Thank you, Druvak. You're a blessing on our family._ "

"I will do what I can, Master Ru'val. I will let you know when I have found him."

The call ended, Druvak glancing around the marketplace he inhabited. It was some distance away from the nearest security check-point, and he knew he would have to call off a visit to a group of friends he knew would sorely be disappointed that Druvak was called back on what should have been a day off from serving the K'lek residence.

But hearing that Sa'lem was reportedly seen approaching the public torture was not something Druvak expected. He knew from Ru'val's tone of voice that it was an unexpected event, and in these occasions Druvak was compelled to serve the family.

He paused, however, as he turned back. His thoughts turned to Sa'lem, and he rubbed the bottom of his large head with a claw. As his left antennae stuck out to the side, he pondered, his fly-like eyes gazing out to the Tayurmya.

 _Why would Sa'lem go_ there _, of all places?_  he asked himself.  _That is against everything he thinks..._

The ra'ken shook his head, his left antennae assuming it's normal position. "Maybe it was that woman he was spotted with." He shook his head. "I must be wary of her, then. I only hope I am not too late."

With this, he rushed off, his four pairs of legs working at high gear to get him to the security checkpoint quickly enough to get him to the site of the public torture.

* * *

Kasumi sat back, shaking her head as she crossed her arms. She had figured it all out, of course: sitting in her cell only left her so many ways to plan. She had no idea how she would get out of the Tower itself, but she had thought of a way to get out of her cell. From there, she would have to improvise. She knew it was not a reliable plan, but it was better than anything anyone else had.

 _And I doubt Legion and Valentine have thought of anything_ , Kasumi thought, her eyes turning to the cell she had seen the guards deposit Valentine in.  _Poor Valentine... Gotta get the poor guy out before they do that to him again... and I've got to get out before then._

She then turned to her window. She considered herself lucky: she had a bird's eye view of everything that was happening down in that square she overheard a few guards talk about. There was a pretty large crowd gathering around a small white platform, a strange white chair attached right to the center of the platform. Kasumi leaned against the window, taking a look out to the crowd.

Briefly, however, she thought she saw a familiar face. It was only for a second and the face was veiled, but when she looked at the rest of this person's wardrobe, she smiled, the familiar jacket and shirt standing out amongst the crowd.

"Clever girl..." Kasumi whispered.

 _Well, that'll make my life a little easier,_  she thought.  _Maybe I could host a trial run to contact Jodie for a game plan to get out..._

Kasumi nodded, crossing her arms.  _They'll never know,_  she said, smirking as she walked back to her bed. She sat on it, new thoughts entering her head in relation to what she would have to do to get out.

And then, she heard the sound of footsteps. Kasumi rose, walking over to the large door that separated her from the rest of the prison. She peeked out, and then frowned.

_Wait..._

She then turned to the guards at her cell, knocking lightly. As soon as she had done this, one of the guards turned, nonchalantly opening the food slot close to Kasumi's face.

"What's going on over there?" she asked.

"New prisoner," said the guard who had opened the slot. "Well, not new. He's being transferred over here."

"Ooh, a new face," Kasumi said cheerfully. "It was starting to get a little droll around here."

In response, the guard gave her an unamused frown. He then slid the slot shut with a little more force than necessary, Kasumi blinking in surprise.

She shook her head, before placing her hand against the cell's barrier. "Killjoy," she muttered.

Kasumi's gaze then turned to the commotion. She saw a couple of guards leading a prisoner to the cell across from hers, the prisoner offering very little resistance. His gaze had turned to the ground, but even before then Kasumi had to hold back a gasp of shock. She recognized the prisoner even from how he did not look at her. His gait seemed a little slower than she was used to, but Kasumi realized who it was very quickly.

And then, when he was put into his cell, the prisoner turned to glance at Kasumi. And the eyes that stared back at her proved his identity.

Kasumi could only reel back in shock.

"Oh my...  _Xerxes_?"

* * *

Jodie stepped deeper into the crowd, trying to get as close as she could to the platform without getting close enough she felt she would trigger the turian she knew would be on soon. She saw a blue aura surrounding the platform, but she could still see what was going on within. She suspected the aura was to keep anything like Aiden out, though this came more as a relief to Jodie than an inconvenience.

Sa'lem followed, gripping Jodie's wrist. He pulled on it, shaking his head. "You know, Elzabet, get too close and someone's going to spot me," he said.

"That can't be such a bad thing, can it?" Jodie asked.

"Um... I kind of don't want to be seen right now," said Sa'lem. "Especially not here."

Jodie nodded. "Fine," she said. She then looked up, Aiden chirping loudly. "We're close enough as it is anyway, we can stop here." She then turned her attention to the platform, finding her view obstructed by quite a few other people. "Is there any kind of footstool I can use? It's hard to see in a crowd this size."

"You are pretty short for an artician," said Sa'lem. He then turned, releasing Jodie's wrist and pointing to his back. "Here, maybe you can get on my back?"

Jodie looked at the tolahña, before shrugging. "Sure, I guess," Jodie said. "Well, if that's all right..."

"It is, believe me," Sa'lem replied as he knelt on the ground. Jodie then climbed onto his back, and before she knew it she had been hoisted onto Sa'lem's back. She then looked up, the platform clearly visible to her. She nodded, patting Sa'lem on the shoulder.

"Thanks," she said. "That's much better."

Sa'lem nodded. "Hey, don't underestimate us, you know," he said. "We may look thinner than a stick, but we can carry quite a bit."

"I guess so," said Jodie as she looked towards the platform. She paused, before looking at Sa'lem. "Sa'lem, when do you think they'll-"

And then, Jodie heard the sound of a drum roll somewhere from within the building. As soon as she looked up, she saw a few praetorin guards walk up the platform, six in all. In the center was someone who looked very much like a human, but after a second Jodie was able to see the glowing eyes that separated the exions from all others. As the exion took a position by the chair, Jodie noticed that two of the guards wheeled some kind of strange injection device up behind them, and she leaned forward to get a better look.

"Oh, dear..." said Sa'lem. "And this is why I didn't want to come here."

Jodie swallowed a lump in her throat. "Well, I want to see this myself," she said. "So..."

Sa'lem gave an aggravated sigh.

The praetorin guards then walked away from the chair in the center, all of them positioned at the corners of the platform. Jodie glanced back at the door, seeing that there were no guards there tending to the doors. However, she also noticed that they had not brought out Xerxes yet, and knowing them she imagined he would be guarded. She kept a keen look on the timing, her gaze trained to the back doors as she heard the exion begin to speak.

She tuned out most of his speech: she wasn't there for the speech, after all. Occasionally, the exion was interrupted by cheers from the crowd, though even in her state of apathy Jodie noticed that they were cheers shouted by people looking for blood. They had that edge of malice to it, of wanting something to happen to the prisoner.

After a while, she shook her head, keeping her gaze trained on the door.

She then turned back, looking up at the exion briefly.  _Does he always take this long to make a speech?_  she thought.  _I mean... Aiden, how long has he been speaking?_

The entity chirped a couple of times, Jodie shaking her head.  _More than enough time for someone to sneak in,_  she thought.  _Now, the question is..._

"And now, without further ado... our prisoner!" the exion said. "I'm sure  _she_ will be able to tell us more about what she's hiding with eyes on her!"

Jodie's eyes widened, and for a second she lost the ability to focus on the stage in front of her.

"She?"

"Yeah, she." Jodie nearly jumped off of Sa'lem's back, turning her head and quickly letting go of Sa'lem's shoulder to straighten out her veil. "You don't know?"

Jodie's heart skipped a beat as she realized she had asked aloud. "Know what?" she asked, turning her gaze to Sa'lem.

"They're torturing the one who's now known as 'the Traitor of the Normandy'," said Sa'lem. "She served with the commander, but gave his classified communications to us to someone in the other galaxy. You don't know?"

Jodie's muscles froze, a chill racing down her spine. She swallowed, looking at Sa'lem. "She did...?"

 _Oh my God..._  she thought.

She then turned her attention to the platform. She saw movement from where the Tower's doors were, and from that distance she guessed there were three people. Her conjecture was confirmed, when she saw two praetorin guards drag a third person up the steps.

Jodie had to suppress the urge to gasp in horror at who she saw when the trio finally cleared the stairs to the platform. Aiden trilled in shock, both of them rendered speechless as they watched the younger asari get strapped into the chair in the center of the platform. The asari's light blue eyes flitted around in fear, her lightly-freckled face looking considerably more gaunt than Jodie had seen it previously.

 _And that face..._  Jodie thought.

_No! Liara!_


	12. Chapter Twelve

Sura sat down across from the aqueron, her eyes turning over to the alien. She shrugged, looking over at the aqueron as he kept his gaze turned to the ceiling.

"So what's on your mind now?" asked Sura.

"How do you know I have things on my mind?" asked the aqueron.

"You always look like you do," said Sura. "Trust me, I've seen lots of people that are the type before."

"You're a keen observer," said the aqueron.

"I have to be," said Sura. "C-SEC detective work kind of requires you to observe things about people."

The aqueron frowned. "Hm." He nods, before looking up. "It sounds quite like the FAR, when you are assigned to defend the home."

Sura leaned forward. "You mean your friends do more than just play secret agent?" she asked.

"All we do is to defend the home," the aqueron replied. "But to defend the Obschesto and all who dwell in our galaxy..." He shook his head. "That is quite a bit more involved. Honestly, from having infiltrated the Citadel, I cannot say I see much difference between your C-SEC and our FAR."

Sura nodded. "I thought I saw flashes," she said. "Though, I don't know about this place."

"You've scarcely stepped outside," the aqueron pointed out.

"True," she said. "Though, I imagine if I were to step out I'd find it to be absolutely nothing like C-SEC. I don't imagine they also defend the Obschesto?"

"The FAR does that as well," he replied.

Sura nodded. "I guess that's fair," she said. "Still... I think your definition of defending the home is a little strange. I mean, according to you it involves sending spies to track everything our galaxy does while one of them impersonates being a human while becoming the figurehead of a species?"

The aqueron paused, blinking. "I suppose when you put it that way, it sounds like an odd way to defend the home," he said.

"It does," said Sura.

"I confess, I've never thought of it like that," said the aqueron as he leaned back. He sighed, glancing back towards the floor. "It does sound pretty similar to what Cerberus told us after the Great Purge, though."

"Maybe there's something else going on?" asked Sura.

"Perhaps," the aqueron agreed. "Jon'ison Shardan did seem to include a broad definition of 'defending everyone'. Sending people out to your galaxy, spying, and..."

And then the aqueron stopped, closing his eyes. Sura frowned, leaning forward a little. Her hand twitched, and her eyes narrowed as she looked over at the prisoner. "And what..." she asked.

The aqueron paused. "I may be betraying my galaxy yet again..." he said. "But at the same time..."

Sura shifted her posture, leaning forward. "What is it?" she asked.

The aqueron shifted, looking up at Sura. "If I tell you this, it would confirm some of what you suspect."

"Tell me," said Sura.

The aqueron sighed. "We were hoping to forge alliances with some of the other species as well," he said. "As such, we went deep undercover, attempting to discover what might make every race tic."

"You want to do it without going through the Council?" asked Sura. "That would mean..." She frowned. "Who did you do stock on?"

"All the wayward children," he said. "The quarians, the krogan... every people who've been wronged by you before."

Sura frowned, clenching her teeth. "Wronged?" she asked, feeling her skin tingle in anger. "What the hell are you talking about, wronged?"

"The genophage and everything they did about the geth," said the aqueron. "We feel you wronged them for treating them as you did."

Sura frowned. "I'm not going to deny that there are things we could do differently now," Sura replied. "But the krogan committed war crimes during the rebellions."

"But neutering them would not have been the right way to do it," said the aqueron.

Sura shook her head, moving closer to the aqueron. "Do you know that the krogan rendered three planets uninhabitable during the rebellions?" she asked.

The aqueron's face paled, his eyes widening. "What?"

"The krogan were brutal warriors back in the day," said Sura. She shook her head. "They crashed asteroids into planets, killed untold numbers of people... and they never surrendered once they claimed something. If something wasn't done, it would have resulted in untold deaths, perhaps even genocide."

"That does not make your treatment of them right," the aqueron replied.

"No, it doesn't," Sura said softly. "The genophage is a shit way to deal with it, we can see that now. But you'd be an idiot to think the krogan are blameless." She felt her throat constrict. "And, much as I hate to say this... The quarians did break Council law. The Council's hands were tied... I know many people wanted to help the quarians, but once it came out they'd created the geth, a lot of people lost sympathy for them."

"If they had given the quarians help, they would not be in their present predicament," the aqueron stated.

Sura shook her head. "Nobody thought that way," Sura replied. "I'm not saying it excuses their behavior, but the quarians broke laws. The krogan committed war crimes. The quarians, sure, they were victims and we should be more forgiving towards them, but as with the krogan, their situation is more complicated." She shook her head. "And you can't make people into blameless martyrs when the truth is much more complicated."

The aqueron frowned. "Hm..." He looked down. "We never knew this much. Perhaps our recon is not as successful as we hoped."

"It's information you can get from opening any text book given to you about history," said Sura. She shook her head. "What the hell would you have done, anyway?"

The aqueron took a deep breath in, looking right at Sura. "Give them what they want," he said.

Sura leaned back, her eyes widening. "Curing the genophage and giving the quarians a homeworld," she said.

"Not just a homeworld," the aqueron replied, looking over at Sura. "Tell me: you know how restrictive those suits are, no?"

Sura's frown returned, and she immediately leaned forward. "Of course," she said. "Everyone does."

The aqueron nodded, blinking a little before he sat back.

"Then perhaps I could pique your interest if I told you we were developing an immune booster that would render those suits meaningless."

* * *

Liara T'Soni's eyes were wide in fear. Her gaze turned to the crowd around the platform. Their jeers and boos assaulted her ears, and she found she could not even retreat into the seat to get away from them. The way they glared at her...

She almost squeezed her eyes shut, but the exion running the public 'humiliation' (as her guards had so eloquently called it) turned to Liara.

"Now, traitor, you appear before all the people you have betrayed!" the exion said. He waved his hand out, moving so close to Liara she knew she would have felt the exion's breath on her face if it had the capacity to breathe. "Look at them!"

Liara could only half-heartedly glance out to the crowd. Even when she did, she found herself unable to meet their angry gazes. Faintly, she saw a few try to throw food items at her, but all such items were blocked by that strange blue force field that surrounded her platform. Still, that force field did nothing to prevent her from seeing the extent of the glares aimed at her.

The exion then stepped away, walking to the all too familiar device they had used on her countless times. "Now, then," said the exion. "You are here, and you see everyone there. Now try to tell them to their faces that you aren't a traitor!"

In response, the crowd screamed at her, Liara squeezing her eyes shut. She could only shake her head, closing her eyes. She felt the restraints around her body even more acutely than ever before.

The crowd's noise died down, leaving Liara to the sounds of her own breathing. And in this breathing, her mind reached forward, grasping for any last shred of hope. Her eyes remained shut, the silence overpowering.

And then, Liara's thoughts turned to her mother, the Matriarch Benezia. In a rare moment, she remembered what it must have been like for her mother to be in a situation where she was powerless to stop what was happening. Liara had been fitted with a biotic dampener beforehand, so she knew she could not fight her way out, and she knew that she was physically a little weaker than she had been when she had been on the Normandy.

 _But my mother fought on regardless of all that,_  she thought.  _Her fall was inevitable, and she still fought it as best she could..._  She squeezed her eyes shut, stopping the tears of fright that were about to flow down her cheeks.

_I've still got my mind. They haven't broken me yet._

Liara opened her eyes, glancing at the exion. Her eyes were still wide with fear, but the frown on her face offset this slightly. "I... I am  _not_ a traitor!"

The crowd booed loudly. "What?" asked the exion.

"I hold... I hold  _no_ loyalty to you," said Liara. "I hold my loyalty to the people of my galaxy!"

The exion chuckled darkly, before turning to the crowd. "Citizens of the Obschesto, will you stand for this?"

The crowd replied with a resounding scream of 'no'. Liara continued to look out, the original feeling of terror seeping back into her by degrees. The exion then stepped towards the machine, Liara glancing at him.

"Fortunately, we have our ways to make her speak," he said. "This has not worked in private... but perhaps in the public eye, where she will not be able to hide..."

And in that moment, Liara felt the needle prick her skin. Her eyes widened as soon as the drug entered her system, and immediately the bright lights of the Obschesto all but blinded her.

And as she let out a moan that seemed louder than it actually was, she thought she could make out the faint outline of her torturer in the bright lights that took over her vision.

"Let's see how long it takes her to bend, shall we?"

* * *

Jodie then watched as the exion grabbed a fairly large knife. He held it out to the crowd, taking in their cheers with a sick smile. Liara was only able to squeeze her eyes shut, her head trying and failing to retreat into the chair.

"He's... He's toying with her..." Jodie whispered.

"Yeah, they do that at these things," Sa'lem replied.

Jodie's frown grew ever greater, and as she turned she saw the exion approach Liara. He brought the knife blade down towards Liara's arm, and with a very carefully practiced motion he slowly gave a rather small cut to her forearm.

Liara's scream of pain was loud enough that Jodie nearly lost her veil then and there. She had to bite back a gasp, the crowd's cheering growing ever louder as Liara's scream died down. Jodie squinted, seeing that the cut on Liara's arm was certainly not severe enough to cause any real damage, and in fact it could have been covered with a Band-Aid and it would have been fine. But she also noticed the way she almost tried not to move, even as tears flowed down her cheeks.

Jodie turned to Sa'lem. "What the hell did they give her?" she asked.

"A drug that amplifies all of her senses," Sa'lem said. "That cut's small, but right now she's supposed to be feeling it like someone just chopped her arm off..."

Aiden trilled in anger upon hearing this, and before Jodie knew it she turned, feeling a rush of anger course through her body. Her frown deepened, and for a second even the veil was unable to hide her expression.

 _And they call themselves good guys..._  she thought.  _This isn't an interrogation! This is a show!_

The exion on the stage leaned closer to Liara. "So, who did you give this information to?"

Jodie watched as Liara breathed in and out. The asari's eyes were squeezed shut, and she took a few breaths to steady herself. The asari weakly opened her eyes, Jodie briefly noticing the blacks of her eyes almost blotted out her blue eyes before the asari closed them again. After a second, Liara mumbled something to the exion.

The exion growled, before bringing the knife up to bear. "She still resists!" He then brought the knife back down on the other arm this time, the blade noticeably coming down with less care. "I suppose it is time to ramp it up!"

And with this, he sliced into her arm, leaving a somewhat larger wound in the blade's wake. Liara screamed out, the scream cut off halfway through by a choking sound. Jodie found herself clenching her fists, and before she knew it she was blinking away tears with a speed that amazed even herself. And as Aiden trilled in rage, Jodie could only nod.

_To think she's been experiencing this for..._

And then, her frown vanished as she realized something.  _Shit, how long has she been here?_

And then the exion leaned forward. "Who did you give the message to?"

Liara took a few more breaths to calm herself. And then, right at the end, she gathered something in her mouth, before spitting something black at the exion.

The substance landed on the exion's shirt, the crowd going silence. He glanced out to the audience, making the black spot on his shirt rather obvious. Jodie briefly recognized it as the sight of asari blood, before the exion glanced back at Liara.

Then, he nodded. "Still spunky, then." He then nodded to the praetorin around the platform. "I guess even public humiliation wasn't enough. Let's go with something a little more... sustained, shall we?"

Sa'lem gasped behind Jodie. "Oh no..." he said, even as the crowd roared its approval.

Jodie turned. "What?" she asked.

"Elzabet... it's the electric shock..." Sa'lem turned over. "With her amplified senses, it'll-"

But Sa'lem spoke too late, for he was interrupted mid-sentence by a loud cry of pain from Liara. Jodie looked back, and saw that Liara's arms were vibrating in place. Beneath the roar of the crowd, she could make out a distinct buzzing sound, one that grew a little louder. She saw Liara grit her teeth, trying to to make any further vocalization. Her breath hitched, and she felt her veins rush in fury.

"Still feel like spitting in my shirt?" said the exion. "I assure you, traitor, it gets worse by degrees."

And then, the buzzing grew louder.

 _Fuck..._  Jodie looked around.  _There's nothing we can do, is there? This is... this is so fucked up!_

The exion then leaned forward, the buzz cutting out suddenly. "I can promise you far worse agony than that," he said. "But similarly, I can promise you I will end it if you just speak the name of the one you gave that communication to. So tell me: who did you give it to?"

Liara looked up, Jodie seeing the tears welling in her eyes. Liara hesitated a little bit, looking up at the exion.

But before anything else could happen, a loud boom rocked the platform. The crowd suddenly went completely silent, the people on the platform standing erect.

"What was that?" the exion asked immediately.

Jodie was knocked out of her fury, hearing Aiden gurgle angrily. She then glanced over to one corner of the platform, and she held her breath as she looked on.

The loud boom sounded again, and this time Jodie thought she could see the stage tilt forward a little bit. It was then that she looked over to it, her eyes widening.

_Aiden, what the hell are you-?_

And then, with a third boom, the platform lurched and tilted towards that corner. All the people on the platform let out cries of shock as the platform tilted, one praetorin falling over the opposite corner while the others gripped the edge of the stage for purchase. The exion dropped the blade in his hand, the blade rolling down the stage. After a few seconds, they all regained their footing, looking around frantically for the source.

Jodie stood perfectly still out of instinct. It was during this stillness that noticed the blue barrier around the stage had dissipated. And as soon as she saw that, she realized Aiden's intent.

She had no time to react, however, for before anyone could do anything else, something exploded off to the side. Jodie felt the crowd get thrown into chaos, and she felt herself get shoved around by people who were frantically trying to leave the area. She thought she could hear Sa'lem shout her assumed name, but it quickly got lost in the din of the crowd. She felt herself get pushed a few more times, turning her gaze back to the stage as a few people in the crowd rushed right past it in the confusion.

And then, in the chaos, she thought she saw Liara slide away from her captors. One of the praetorin rushed towards her, but she saw him get tossed away like a rag doll before he could get too close. The others on the platform saw their comrade fly away, and this gave Liara enough time to slip right into the chaos.

Jodie wasted no time. Before Aiden had even trilled to tell her what to do, Jodie pushed through the crowd, seeing the blue form of Liara as she laid dazed on the ground by the platform. After a few seconds, she was at Liara's feet, the asari glancing up at her in confusion. Jodie looked up, making sure that the line of sight from the platform to where she was was obscured, before nodding down and quickly picking Liara up.

"Calm down," Jodie whispered as close to Liara's ear as she dared. "You'll be okay. I'm getting you out of here."

With this, Jodie grabbed Liara under the joint of her knee and her back, angling her head so it rested against her chest. With Liara positioned right, Jodie ran as far away from the platform as she could in the chaos.

For once, she was thankful she was short: meant she could slip in and out of places undetected, and in the chaos she imagined most people would not take note of where Liara had gone. And bunched up against her, Jodie had confidence nobody would notice. She thought she could hear Liara moan her name softly, to which Jodie patted her in the back.

"Sh, don't try to talk," she said. "We're getting you out of here."

She pushed into the crowd, rushing up the curve of the Obschesto while holding Liara close.

"Elzabet! Elzabet!"

Jodie then looked up, her eyes falling on Sa'lem where he stood. He had been pushed back by the chaos, but he looked as if he was trying to stay rooted in place. She adjusted course, making her way towards Sa'lem in the confusion.

"Sa'lem!" she shouted back. "I'm here!"

Sa'lem turned, making his way towards Jodie in the chaos. "Elzabet, there you are!" he said. "I lost sight of you, and-"

And then, the tolahña looked at Liara. His eyes widened, all four of them turning to look back up at Jodie.

"Elzabet!" Sa'lem replied. "What the hell are you-?"

"I haven't got time to explain," Jodie replied. "We've got to get out of here! Now!"

"Elzabet, do you know what you're-"

"I know full well what I'm doing, Sa'lem!" Jodie replied. "Trust me! Let's just get out of here, and I'll explain everything!"

Sa'lem shook his head. "Fine," he said. "But that explanation  _better_ come. This is crazy, and not something I would've thought of doing at any point!"

"Maybe you should've thought of it earlier," Jodie replied. She shook her head. "Come on, how do we get back to the ra'ken district?"

Sa'lem shook his head. "Follow me," he said.

With this, the tolahña took off, Jodie following behind as she held Liara close. All she could make out in the chaos was Liara's gentle breathing.

* * *

"Master Ru'val, did you see that?"

Druvak stood amongst the chaos, one hand held to a device just under his right antenna. He had arrived just as the platform had tilted, and was just in time to witness the chaos that followed. Articians, aquerons, and praetorin alike were scattered in all directions in a panic, but Druvak managed to stay his ground, keeping an eye out for Sa'lem.

" _I'm seeing it on a live feed, Druvak!_ " Ru'val said, his voice strained. _"It must be a spirit-touched!_ "

"So you may believe it to be one of the people of the Punargathana, Master Ru'val?" asked Druvak as his antennae twitched.

" _It cannot_   _be,_ " Ru'val replied. _"They're never so bold as to interrupt one of those events! This cannot be related, and yet..._ "

"They would likely steal a figurehead from the other galaxy away, Master Ru'val," Druvak suggested. "Having such a one on their side would be a boon."

" _That is_   _true_ ," Ru'val admitted. _"Still, that is not important. Have you seen Sa'lem?_ "

Druvak turned his attention back to the chaos. In the distance, he thought he could see a younger tolahña. He was not able to make out if he was Sa'lem, but the garb Sa'lem wore was one Druvak recognized. He glanced to the side, seeing a rather short woman with a veil on her head. He could not make out the details of it from this distance, but the important part was that he caught sight of Sa'lem.

And then, he thought he saw a flash of blue flesh peeking out from around the woman next to Sa'lem.

"Um... Yes, Master Ru'val," said Druvak. "He is currently fleeing up the diplomat's curve. He still has the artician woman with him, the same one you described before."

" _Sir, we have a visual!_ " shouted a voice Druvak did not know. " _The veiled woman is carrying the Traitor of the Normandy away!_ "

Druvak's antennae shot straight up, glancing back at the flash of blue flesh he remembered seeing. " _What?_ " asked Ru'val. " _No! That is not possible! My son is not a traitor!_ "

"Indeed, I cannot see this traitor from my vantage point," Druvak replied.

" _That's because her back is turned towards you, you filthy trash-digger!_ " a second voice replied. " _We can see her from the drones! She's in this woman's arms!_ "

" _Please, refrain from using such language on my trusted manservant,_ " Ru'val replied. Druvak imagined Ru'val nodded. " _But that does not answer what Sa'lem is doing with her! I swear, I know nothing about this!_ "

" _Sure you don't,_ " said one of the other voices. " _I seem to recall you used to be..._ Different _, before you fell in line, hm? Maybe the son_ has  _inherited the father's keep, hm?_ "

" _That has nothing to do with it!_ " Ru'val replied, his voice tense and agitated. " _My son is not with the Punargathana crowd!_ "

" _And I suppose you have no other explanation for why he is helping a woman carry away a traitor_ _?_ " asked one of the other voices.

Druvak's antennae rose in alarm. He then glanced to where Sa'lem had run to, his own mind working in overload.  _If what they're saying is indeed true..._

His eyes seemed to freeze, his vision getting swimmy for just a second.  _No! Young Master Sa'lem!_

" _I... I...!_ "

" _Then there you are,_ " said the other. " _I'm giving the order to arrest both this artician spirit-touched,_ and  _Sa'lem. And perhaps, if we find links to Punargathana with you..._ "

"You will find nothing of the kind, sir," Druvak replied.

" _You will find nothing,_ " said Ru'val. " _I tell you, I knew nothing about this!_ "

" _Then you can tell that to your son when we bring him in,_ " the other voices said. " _Give the order. They won't get far._ "

Druvak's antennae drooped over his eyes, and he nodded desolately in the by then nearly-empty humiliation site. His gaze turned to the platform, everyone who had been on it walking away. He then glanced back to where Sa'lem had vanished, and he felt a swell in his heart.

He had to fight the will to drop his arms. "And what do you want me to do, Master Ru'val?" Druvak asked.

Druvak could hear the tolahña exhale shakily. " _Go... Come to my home tonight, Druvak. I..._ "

The ra'ken nodded grimly. "I understand, Master Ru'val," he said. "I will be there when you return."

And with this, the ra'ken turned, beginning the long trek to the K'lek residence. The comm call cut out, and the ra'ken moved with long, slow steps away from the site of the humiliation.

* * *

Admiral Kalpalan looked on at the holographic projection as it showed Sa'lem and the strange woman running through the diplomat's arm. The two praetorin seated at the terminals nodded to each other, before they both turned to the comm units splayed out in front of them. "We'll send the arrest order down the chain of command, sir," one of them replied. "We'll have wanted signs all over the Obschesto in three minutes."

"Very well." The admiral simply turned his gaze to Ru'val. "Give out the order." He then nodded his head. "If you will excuse me, I would like a word with Sir K'lek."

"Of course, sir," said the second praetorin. "Leave it to us!"

Admiral Kalpalan turned to Ru'val. Ru'val met his gaze directly, the tolahña's four eyes wide in abject horror. The admiral saw it took considerable effort for Ru'val to move, his steps slow and deliberate. The admiral turned, keeping pace with Ru'val as they both walked outside of the room, Ru'val casting a second glance in there before they both left.

"Come," said the admiral. "Perhaps we can use the quiet place?"

Ru'val nodded, his neck stiffening with the motion. "Yes... Please..." His voice was quiet, almost too quiet for the admiral to hear what he said. But it was all the confirmation the admiral needed.

Thus, they meandered through various hallways, until the admiral led Ru'val into a secluded room. The room was fairly well-lit, with no windows to look outside. The only furniture was a bench off to the side, the stark white of the walls contrasting against the slightly worn metal of the bench. The admiral knew, as well, that nobody would be able to intrude on the conversation.

As soon as he closed the door behind Ru'val, the admiral nodded. "Well, Ru'val, here we are," said the admiral. "I cannot-"

A sharp intake of breath interrupted the admiral. Ru'val stumbled forward, catching himself on the older bench. The tolahña brought one hand to his mouth, all of his eyes closing as the beginnings of tears formed on all of his eyelids.

"No..." Ru'val could only whisper. "No, dear spirits... This cannot be true..."

The admiral looked at the tolahña, before taking a couple of steps closer. He said nothing, kneeling by Ru'val as the tears streamed down his face.

"Sa'lem..." Ru'val's voice remained quiet. "I swear, he is not a Punargathana. I can confirm it myself..." He then paused, turning away. "But I know that does not matter. To the ones who arbitrate, it will never be enough..."

The admiral remained silent, Ru'val taking a shaky breath in. "I apologize..." he said. "I just... Why did Sa'lem have to go with her? I always... I always tell him to be careful who he associates with, but he never listens... And now... Now, that I cannot defend him... What am I to do?" He then turned to the admiral. "Sugrak, what...?"

The admiral simply sat on the bench next to Ru'val. He gently laid a hand on the tolahña's shoulder, rubbing it gently. And for a second, Sugrak Kalpalan's stern visage fell, his eyes shining sadly for the other.

Ru'val lurched forward. In a second, he openly wept onto Sugrak's uniform, his nose and one of his eyes nestled up against some of the decorative medals. The praetorin simply nodded, patting his friend on the back with gentle gestures. The admiral sighed softly, closing his eyes as he comforted his friend.

And faintly, his mind turned to Karshia.

_How am I going to tell her...?_

* * *

Ashley nearly dropped the cleaning tool as soon as the warning klaxon went off outside. She then turned to Kolyat and Kalo, the two of them turning to Ashley in confusion.

"What the hell is that?" asked Kolyat as he stood up.

Kalo stood as well, the quarian walking close to the window. "It came from outside..." he said. He then moved forward, one hand resting against the edge of a board as he peered out. He glanced out into the obschesto intently, Ashley noticing as he moved his head between crevices to get a better look.

And then, both Kolyat and Ashley heard a sharp intake of breath from Kalo. He then gestured them to the window, pulling away and pointing at the crevice. "It is about Jodie," he said.

"What?" Ashley did not even bother to deposit the cleaning tool on the desk, before she rushed for the window, glancing outside.

When she looked through, she saw that various holograms had shot up all around the Obschesto. Even from her limited viewpoint, she saw clearly that footage was being displayed. And the footage there... Ashley knew not what the veil was that covered the figure's head, but she could very distinctly recognize Jodie's clothing otherwise. In her arms, she carried a figure, blue skin peeking out occasionally. When she looked to the side of the broadcast, she saw that she was accompanied by another person, this one native to the galaxy.

She then retreated, looking to Kalo. "What?" She then pointed at the hole. "What the hell is she doing?"

"I do not know, but I recognized the figure she was carrying," said Kalo. "It was the archaeologist, no?"

And then, Ashley gasped, suddenly realizing who the blue flesh belonged to. "Holy shit..." she whispered, right as Kolyat peered through the hole. "They got..." She then paused, rubbing her chin. "Jesus, that explains a lot..."

"What the hell is she doing?" Kolyat asked immediately. "Wasn't she supposed to keep a low profile?"

"We all were," said Ashley. She then turned, running back to her assault rifle. "Well, so much for that plan. Now we've got to find a way to disappear." She then returned to cleaning it, though her movements were faster and a little less precise than before.

Kolyat pulled away from the window. "So what do we do now?" he asked. "Wait for them to find us?"

"No," said Ashley. She then looked to Kolyat. "With any luck, they won't think to look in here. Nobody saw us come in to the Obschesto, so they'd have no reason to think we snuck in here. That'll give us a little time to come up with something. The best thing we can do is stay here and hope Jodie gets enough breathing room to tell us what to do next."

"And if they do think to look in here?" asked Kolyat.

"Then we need to keep greater watch," said Kalo as he looked through a different slit within the boards. "I will keep watch at the window. Kolyat, you stay by the door, listen for anything that might sound like it does not go there."

The drell nodded, Ashley resuming her cleaning as he went to the door. "Shit..." Ashley said. "I hope Jodie gets out of there okay."

"She is resourceful," said Kalo. "But still, I share your worry." He sighed. "I should have gone with her. Perhaps this would have turned out differently."

"No," said Ashley. "It wouldn't have changed anything." She shook her head. "Let's hope Jodie can get out of that in one piece."

And with this, Ashley returned to cleaning out her weapon parts.

* * *

Sa'lem ducked into an alleyway with some speed. Jodie followed, Liara moaning softly as they moved.

Jodie cast a glance behind her, holding Liara closer to her body before turning back to Sa'lem. "An alley?" she asked.

"Of course," said Sa'lem. "You didn't think I'd go into there the standard way, did you?"

"No..." said Jodie. "But..."

"The tunnel system," said Sa'lem. "We have a whole network of tunnels, and I know one that can get us into the ra'ken quarter."

"Without being seen?" asked Jodie.

"I hope so," said Sa'lem. "It'll be fruitless if we don't-"

And then, Jodie was blinded by the flash of a powerful light from above. When she was able to look up, she saw a hovercraft shining a spotlight on the two of them. Sa'lem swore under his breath, but Jodie could only look up.

" _Traitors!_ " the voice shouted. " _You will desist immediately!_ _Stand down!_ "

Jodie frowned as Aiden released a series of clicks. "Shit..." she muttered. She looked over at Sa'lem. "I'm assuming those things are proofed to spirit touched?"

"Yeah, probably," said Sa'lem.

Jodie frowned, before shaking her head. She then sighed. "Shit..." She shook her head, before looking around. "And they're going to have a barricade set up at the end of that tunnel you mentioned, too."

"How do you know?" asked Sa'lem.

"It's what I'd do," she said. She then turned away. "So our only way out of this mess is out the alley, or..."

Jodie then looked up at the nearest building. There was a window to where they were that was relatively close to where she was, and it led directly into the building next door. She glanced over at Sa'lem, before checking the size of the window. It was small, but Jodie knew that she, too, was relatively small. She then sighed, wondering if the entire alley was blocked off or if all other ways in were closed off as well. She then glanced to the door close to the window. The door was locked from the outside, but if it were to be opened from within...

Jodie gulped. She then turned to Sa'lem. "Sa'lem, hold her for me!"

Before Sa'lem could say anything, Jodie rushed forward, placing Liara in Sa'lem's arms.

" _Stop, intruder!_ " shouted the hovercraft pilot. " _Stop now, traitors! We are authorized to use-_ "

The pilot was interrupted by the sound of shattering glass. As soon as the window shattered, Jodie leapt in, taking a second to pull her assault rifle out. The door opened behind her, and as soon as it did, Sa'lem rushed through. Jodie briefly heard something that sounded similar to chain gun fire, before the door closed behind Sa'lem. As soon as it did, though, she saw a couple of rounds tear through the door, the rounds impacting against the floor and leaving a few holes in the door.

It was when Jodie saw the metal around the holes flare white that she cringed.

 _Oh no..._  Jodie thought.  _Don't tell me these guys have laser-based weapons!_

Jodie then turned around. She saw that Sa'lem had planted his back near an open doorway, pressing Liara to his chest to make sure she was out of the way of fire. Jodie held her assault rifle close, running quickly to the other side of the door. She brought her assault rifle to bear, seeing troopers run towards the front of what looked like an upscale restaurant.

Jodie nodded. "Sa'lem, keep her out of harm's way," she said. "I'll handle this."

Sa'lem frowned. "I can shoot a gun too, you know," he said.

"Yeah, and who's going to make sure she stays safe?" Jodie asked. She shook her head, Aiden clicking several times. She nodded, keeping her assault rifle trained. "We move as soon as the first table is flipped. You don't stop moving unless I do the same. You got that?"

"Fine," said Sa'lem. "Just let me know when he-"

Sa'lem was unable to finish his sentence, for then a table right by the window was launched out of the room, sailing straight through glass and slamming into a soldier on the other side. At that point, Jodie ducked down as several lasers passed right over her head. Sa'lem let out a yelp that was barely covered by the sound of gunfire, and then Jodie heard another loud crash of glass.

She raised her assault rifle, and she fired a series of mass accelerator rounds at the offending people. She managed to drop one member before her rifle beeped in protest at the heat. She then rushed straight for the door as soon as Aiden tossed another table at them, this once again causing them to stop firing.

Sa'lem came in right behind her, holding Liara close as they rushed out the door. "Elzabet, you've got one of their-"

And then, they were both interrupted as a barrage of lasers was fired at them. Jodie yelped, pulling Sa'lem down behind a strange-looking hovercar as the lasers flew overhead. She paused to catch her breath, before looking up at where she assumed Aiden would be.

"Go on, Aiden," she whispered. "Distract them."

Another vehicle a short distance away flipped over as soon as Jodie gave this order. As soon as the car flipped over, Jodie ducked up from cover, shooting a few more rounds and downing one other soldier. She then pushed Sa'lem away, the tolahña gasping as he suddenly began running by Jodie. They both looked back, ducking into a nearby alleyway as soon as the laser fire began again.

Jodie glanced around, looking for something else that Aiden could distract them with. In the meantime, she popped out of cover, firing a few more rounds at the approaching soldiers. She managed to down two more, before she then saw something burst out of a window close by. It looked like a rather large display, and the confused soldiers were only able to dodge to the side.

Jodie shoved Sa'lem back out onto the street, and they rushed across it. It was then that Jodie heard a loud groan from above. It was then she looked up to see the hovercraft from earlier hovering above the street, getting dangerously close as various troops began to lower down from it.

"Shit!" She ducked her head down, Sa'lem doing the same as laser fire erupted all over them. Jodie thought she heard Sa'lem scream in terror before she yanked him underneath a nearby hovercar. She glanced over to the hovercraft, watching as someone manned a chain-gun station. The chain-gun looked oddly similar to what Jodie saw, but as she looked on she thought she saw some kind of green chamber on the side. She glanced back down at the others on the floor, and for the first time she noticed all their guns had a similar green chamber.

She frowned, shaking her head as she looked up.  _Dammit..._ She looked at Aiden.  _And you're sure there's nothing you can do?_

Aiden clicked loudly. Jodie frowned, before grabbing her assault rifle and looking up.

"Well, this is a long shot, but here goes," she said.

She then fired her rifle at the gunman who had taken position. The gunman ducked back in, but before he could get too far Jodie thought she saw something pop on the green container. She barely had time to register what it was, before the gun suddenly burst into flames, the fire arcing away from the container and burning the gunman across the torso.

Despite this, the gunman pushed forward, dropping the gun away from the hovercraft: by then, however, it was too late: the container exploded, and Jodie ducked behind cover as pieces of shrapnel were sent flying through the air. She heard a few grunts from the ground team, but she had no time to concentrate as the hovercraft turned.

It was then she saw the pilot, the helmet-clad praetorin looking to the side as he dodged what he could of the shrapnel.

Jodie growled.  _There you are!_

She then fired a burst at the pilot. The glass shattered on the second round, and most of the remaining rounds missed and fired into the ship. However, just as the pilot was getting ready to react to Jodie's fire, a final round managed to penetrate his eye. Jodie faintly heard the beep of her assault rifle's overheating indicator, but she ignored it as she watched the pilot slump down onto the control panel in front of him.

And then, the hovercraft's nose turned straight for the ground, the craft rushing to meet the ground.

Jodie gasped, grabbing the tolahña by the arm and running as fast as she could. "Sa'lem,  _run!_ " she shouted.

But then, she heard a loud crash behind her. She and Sa'lem were both thrown off their feet by the force of a fairly powerful explosion, Jodie and Sa'lem both landing a few feet away. Jodie barely registered the sounds of a bunch of vehicles exploding in turn, the cries of soldiers behind her. Jodie felt a small ringing in her ears as she laid on the floor, her veil barely covering her face. As the furore died down, she wondered if anybody was left to arrest them after what happened.

As she slowly pushed herself up, she turned back, noticing that what soldiers remained were tending to the wounds on the others. Jodie nodded, standing up and limping away from where she had fallen. She then walked over to Sa'lem, the tolahña slowly pushing himself up. Liara lay a few feet away, and Jodie made her way to the asari as she groaned in confusion.

"Where...?" Liara asked weakly.

"Don't talk," Jodie replied as soon as she approached. "You'll waste your energy." Jodie stood up, glancing around as she leaned forward and gently pulled Liara into her arms. "Don't talk just yet, Liara. We'll get you somewhere safe..."

"Jodie..." Liara whispered. She smiled softly. "You came for me..."

"Yeah, well, don't celebrate just yet," she whispered. She then turned to Sa'lem, who shakily got to his feet. "Come on. We've got to get moving."

"Right, of course," said Sa'lem, his voice a little dismissive. "Yeah. Let's get out of here."

And with this, the two of them walked away, ducking into an alleyway to find a place to hide before any more soldiers could arrive.

* * *

"Shit... Destructive little bitch."

Admiral Kalpalan looked from behind the monitors. On a holographic screen above the terminals of three exion technicians was displayed a video feed of all the damage that this mysterious artician had done. The hovercraft lay there in shreds, and various soldiers were pulling either dead or wounded from the rubble of both the hovercraft and the vehicles that had exploded around it. He leaned forward, his eyes narrowing as he inspected the damage.

"Goodness..." the admiral said softly. "That is quite the level of destruction there, and right in the middle of the richest district there."

"Sir, we've lost her," one of the technicians said.

The admiral nodded. "She may only have won the battle, but she will not lose the war," he replied. "She is still on the richest district in the Obschesto. I imagine neither she nor Sa'lem will get far, particularly not when weighed down by a wounded asari."

"She is spirit-touched, though," said another technician. "Now how the hell did the Punargathana get a spirit-touched?"

Sugrak frowned, before shaking his head. "It is a moot point," he said. "The next time she appears, we will have another spirit-touched to contend with. She may find herself at a disadvantage at that point, I must say..."

The technicians nodded, before one of them paused. This third technician then turned to the admiral. "You know, it's funny, sir."

The admiral turned to the technician. "The fact that she uses a mass accelerator rifle instead of a traditional laser rifle?" he asked.

"Yeah, that," said the third technician. "Uh, sir. Isn't there an embargo on those things?"

"There is," said the admiral as he leaned forward. "I am trying to think of how the Punargathana acquired those weapons."

The second technician paused. "Do you think it's related to that ship that the others came from?" he asked. "You know, those two human guys we've captured? And with that geth, too?"

The admiral shook his head. "It cannot be," he said. "That ship is under heavy guard. If anyone were to have snuck in, I would have been informed."

"Are you certain of that, sir?" the second technician asked. "I still think it's strange that there were fewer people in that ship than was reported by the DGI guys back on Kahje."

Sugrak turned to the second technician. "Don't worry about that," he said. "The DGI is looking into the area now to see if they have not escaped the ship there. Chances are, if they have not escaped the ship in their own galaxy, they are still inside. And regardless, I am ordering a second inspection of that ship. I had planned to before this, but I suppose the surfacing of a mass accelerator weapon here warrants another search, no?"

"Of course, sir," said the second technician. "I'm sorry to have questioned you."

The admiral shook his head. "Think nothing of it," he said.

The first technician then turned, a frown on his face as he looked up at the praetorin. "And you think that spirit-touched might have worked with them?" he asked.

The admiral shook his head as he held his hands behind his back."I wouldn't think so," he said. "Only articians can be spirit-touched, as I'm sure you are aware. And there is no reason we would see one in the other galaxy."

"Then how did she get her hands on a mass accelerator rifle?" asked the third technician. "And an assault rifle at that?"

Admiral Kalpalan leaned forward. "I do not know," he said. "But I am not jumping to conclusions until I have all the information the people at the DGI can get. It is poor strategic form, you know."

"And what'll happen if they can't answer how that spirit-touched lady figures into all of this?" the third technician pressed. "Uh... sir."

At this, the admiral sighed, shaking his head. "I do not know," he admitted. "But we shall see in time, I suppose. For now, keep extra surveillance on the "

And with this, the technicians nodded grimly, all eyes turning back to their respective terminals.

* * *

"Who is that girl?"

"I don't know, Kim. But whatever the case, a rogue spirit-touched is almost unheard of."

"And that she brashly interrupted that humiliation? I like her nerve."

"Is it nerve or blind stupidity?"

"I don't know, and I don't care. Keep your eyes on her, Wilson. I'll prepare the troops to approach her."

"Are you sure you'll be able to convince her to come?"

"No. But perhaps they can help us."

"So you're going to use her, then."

"No. More that we can give her an offer."

"If you're sure, Kim. Just... be careful."

"I will, Wilson. You can count on that..."


	13. Chapter 13

Karshia frowned as she moved into the troop transport. She glanced at her commanding officer, a rather younger praetorin who watched the others strap themselves into the transport.

"You know the mission, soldiers," the commanding officer said. "We search that arm of the Obschesto. Those three won't stay hidden for long. Check  _everything_. Every nook and cranny: if you find them, radio back to headquarters. Do  _not_ engage them. I repeat, do  _not_ engage them. Do not even approach them. We have someone who  _will_ engage her."

Karshia nodded. "Yes, sir," she and the other recruits chorused.

With this, the commanding officer took his own place on the seats, the transport door closing behind him. "Then let us move, men." He then looked to the cockpit. "Pilot, move out!"

"Yes, sir!" the pilot shouted from the cockpit.

After a few seconds, Karshia felt the rumble of the transport moving underneath her. As the transport lifted off, she sighed, resting her head back against the bench.

Her commanding officer immediately noticed this, leaning forward. "Something the matter, soldier?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," Karshia replied. "The arrest warrant is for my friend."

The commanding officer nodded, some of the other soldiers whispering to themselves. "I was warned to expect some doubt from you, soldier," the officer replied. "Bu you are aware of your oath."

"Yes, sir," said Karshia. "I hold my loyalty to this galaxy, and I will not let it fall to any who may destroy us." She sighed. "It's simply sadness at having to arrest a dear family friend, sir. It will not affect my ability to follow orders."

"Good," said the commanding officer. "Then let us proceed."

Karshia nodded. Her eyes twinkled sadly for a second: she quickly blinked, and the light tint was gone, replaced by a gaze that matched the others in the transport.

* * *

Jodie sighed, gently patting Liara's leg. The asari groaned, looking over at Jodie from where she sat against the alley wall. While she did display a few burns caused by the electric shock and her eyes seemed to shine a little dimmer, Liara looked no worse for wear than Jodie was used to seeing her.

"There, that should do it," said Jodie with a smile. "It's all out of your system."

"Thank you," Liara replied. "I didn't think I'd see such kindness in this galaxy."

"Neither did I." Jodie and Liara both turned to Sa'lem, who was pacing around the length of the alley. "I mean, with those weird guns, and then you rescuing the prisoner, and you doing that on a humiliation of all things!" He paused, his eyes almost bulging out of their sockets. "Dear spirits, a  _humiliation_..."

"I had to rescue her," said Jodie.

"You mean the prisoner," said Sa'lem.

"Her name is Liara," Jodie replied, crossing her arms. "I'd appreciate it if you stopped calling her by what she is."

"Still!" Sa'lem then paused, turning his gaze to Jodie. "That... Jesus Christ, Elzabet! Why the hell didn't you tell me you were Punargathana?"

Jodie blinked, before swallowing. "Sa'lem, I don't know what you think is going on here, but... well..." She turned to the ground, with a sigh.

"Yeah, you better believe it's deceptive of you to do that," said Sa'lem. "Don't get me wrong, I think something should be done about this place just as much as you, but you? You've killed civilians! What the hell was your game, get this prisoner and figurehead with her? 'Cause that's a stupid move, and I didn't think Punargathana would go that far! And really, why the hell would they get you to-"

"I didn't even know she was here."

Sa'lem stopped, seeing the way Jodie's gaze turned to the ground. "The hell are you talking about?" he asked.

Liara sighed. "Whatever you think of... of  _Elzabet_ , the deception goes deeper than you might think," she said. She turned to Jodie. "What I want to know is why you chose that name."

Sa'lem frowned. "Of course Elzabet wasn't even your real name," he said. He then turned to Liara. "You sound like you know her."

"I should," said Jodie. "She and I go back a little. We used to serve on the same ship together."

Sa'lem scoffed, shaking his head. "Don't jest with me, you'd have to have served on the Normandy," he said, a grin coming to his face. "We all know that Shepard was the only artician on that ship!"

Jodie, however, kept her gaze on Sa'lem. After a while, Sa'lem's grin faded, and his eyes widened a little. "You're... you're serious?"

Jodie nodded. "Your people may know me better as Jodie Holmes." She then lowered her veil a little.

"Jod..." Sa'lem clapped his hand over his mouth. "Oh spirits, it is!"

"How in the world did you not recognize her earlier?" Liara asked.

"I... I thought I did," Sa'lem replied. "But I didn't think it was possible. You... You healed me with your spirit. There's no such thing as a human spirit-touched!"

"Well, I don't know what else to say, but you've met one," Jodie replied as she looked up. "In fact... I've led to all this."

"What're you talking about?" Sa'lem asked.

"I gave her the information that allowed her to access that message," said Jodie. "I'm the one who found it."

Sa'lem's eyes widened as he looked at Jodie. "Then you..." He then stepped forward. "Then what are you doing here?  _How_ did you get here? Why investigate our galaxy? Why go through all this trouble? Who else came? Why not trust him? Why are you-?"

"Because I don't like trusting war criminals." Jodie then glanced to the entrance of the alley. "Let's not forget we're on the run. If we stay here too long, we'll get caught. I'll answer all your questions later, but for now, we need to  _move_."

" _No_ ," said Sa'lem. "I don't know about you, but this has gone far enough. I mean... With you, and human spirit-touched, and rescuing..." He shook his head, throwing his arms in the air. "Why the hell am I even still here?" He then began to walk out of the alley they were in. "I'm going back home. I never thought I'd say this, but maybe my father can fix this mess I've gotten in-"

Jodie's eyes widened in alarm. "Sa'lem, wait!" she said, grabbing his arm.

"Let go!" he said. "They're after you, not me!"

"But they've seen you with me!" said Jodie.

"So?" Sa'lem asked. "I could just tell them you held me hostage!"

"After what they've seen, what makes you think they'll believe that?" Jodie replied.

"My father's standing," said Sa'lem as he wrenched his arm from Jodie's grip. "That'll get me out of this mess that  _you've_ dragged me into." He then turned away. "Leave me alone, I don't want anything to do with you!"

Jodie shook her head. "Sa'lem!" she said, reaching forward.

But her hand caught the air as Sa'lem quickly shuffled out of the alleyway. Sa'lem did not look back as he walked away from Jodie and Liara, the two of them watching as he turned the corner. And then, a few seconds passed, with Jodie and Liara left in that alley.

Liara gulped. "He's going to get himself in trouble," she said.

Jodie sighed, looking to the ground. "And then he might learn it's not that simple," she said. She then turned to Liara. "We can't worry about that now, though. They are still after us, you know. Can you move?"

"Yes," said Liara. "I think I can."

Jodie nodded, helping the asari to her feet. Liara stumbled a little as she stood up. She then reached forward, her hands splaying against the nearby wall as she held onto it for support. She took in a few breaths, before taking a breath in.

"Do you need help?" Jodie asked as she stepped forward.

"I guess the help would be nice..." Liara said.

Jodie nodded, before leaning forward. Liara hooked her arm over Jodie's shoulders, the two of them looking up as they went deeper into the alley.

"Well, I guess we'll have to figure out this tunnel system on our own," Jodie replied. "Let's get started on that."

* * *

Kalo jolted a little as he heard his comm unit go off.

He then brought his hand to his ear, and he looked up at the ceiling in surprise. "Sura?"

As soon as Kalo felt Ashley and Kolyat's eyes on him, he heard Sura cough in the background. " _Kalo, you won't believe what our prisoner just told me_ ," the asari began.

Kalo frowned. "What did he tell you?"

" _These guys were trying to diplomatically get on the good side of the quarians and the krogan!_ " Sura replied.

Kalo blinked, quickly gesturing to Ashley to take his place at the window. As soon as the gunnery chief nodded, Kalo rushed back to his equipment, monitoring it carefully and quickly flitting through it to check the connection between himself and Sura. As soon as he saw this, he nodded, keeping his eyes glued on it. "They were?" he asks. "Then that could confirm ill intent against the Council!"

" _Yeah, but-_ "

"Sura, why are you calling me about this?" Kalo asked. "Do you know what has happened on the Obschesto yet?"

The asari paused. " _No_ ," she said.

Kalo nodded. "A very high-profile public torture has just been disturbed," he said. "By Jodie."

Kalo could hear Sura's sharp intake of breath immediately. " _What?_ " she asked. " _We were supposed to keep a low profile!_ "

"I am aware of that," said Kalo. "But apparently, Liara was there. You are aware this means they may be extra-vigilant, no?"

" _Shit..._ " The quarian checked his equipment, frowning when he saw a certain piece of text on the lower left corner of the screen. " _Well, I'll make this fast, then._ "

Kalo nodded, his free hand splaying onto a holographic keyboard and typing as fast as he could. "Please do," he said. "They are attempting to tap into our communication as we speak."

" _Right,_ " said Sura. " _Listen, they're trying to give the krogan and the quarians what they want. They're engineering a cure for the genophage, and... and..._ "

Kalo frowned, typing as fast as he could. "And what?" he asked.

" _An immune system booster. For your entire species..._ "

Kalo's hand immediately stopped. The world froze around him, and suddenly he found it difficult to care about a bar on the lower right hand corner of the screen filling quickly.

"They... what...?"

" _He just told me they're manufacturing something that'll boost your immune system. It's meant to let you live out of your suits,_ " Sura said. " _Soon as I heard that, I thought to tell you right away._ "

"Sura..." Kalo said breathlessly. "That is... Are you certain he is not lying to you about that?"

" _I can look into his mind,_ " said Sura. " _I wasn't aware you had short memory._ "

"I know, I know," said Kalo. "But even for me..." He looked up. "Can you imagine such a thing? That would... no, that would change my people's lot forever!"

" _Yeah, well, don't knock your socks off yet,_ " Sura said. " _They've got it, and they don't intend to let it go. They wanted it to gain a political advantage_..."

Kalo frowned. "So that means they could have used it to convince my people to join their side..." He glanced to the side. "So that means we-"

And then, his equipment beeped. He glanced down, and then his eyes widened as he looked down. The screen had gone red, and before long he saw additional text on the upper right hand corner of the screen.

He shook his head. "Damn," he said. "Well, ma'am, I will have to go. This terminal I have here has not functioned properly lately. It might be because it is an old model, one that has been passed through the ages."

Sura paused. " _Ah, I see,_ " she said. " _Well, I will see you on the other side._ "

"Of course," said Kalo.

He then cut the comm line, before shaking his head and looking up. "We need to move."

Kolyat turned to Kalo. "What?" he asked. "From this safe place?"

"It will not be safe much longer," said Kalo. "They tapped into that communication. They may have a location lock on us soon."

"Dammit," said Ashley as she turned from the window. "You should've disconnected that call!"

"Perhaps not," said Kalo. "Sura may have gathered some valuable intelligence."

"Yeah, but now they'll be swarming the Lying Bastard!" said Kolyat. "And  _then_ how are we going to get out of here?"

"We shall have to see soon enough," said Kalo as he quickly began to pack up the equipment in front of him. "But we have time. We should not waste it. I will tell you what Sura told me when we are on the move."

Ashley frowned, before running over to her work bench and putting her assault rifle back together again. "I hope you're right," said Ashley. "If we have to move and risk being captured out there while these guys are on high alert, this  _better_ be worth it."

* * *

Sura stood up, grabbing one of the two remaining vacuum suits from the locker room door nearby. "Dammit, of course that would happen," she said aloud.

"You supposed you would be safe here?" asked the aqueron.

"I wasn't expecting our leader to do something that pretty much blew our cover," Sura replied. She then growled, before stepping into the vacuum suit. "We have to get out of here."

"Oh," said the aqueron. "Are you sure you will be able to do that? The device they used to enter the Obschesto is in the ship."

"And that, sir, is the beauty of the omni-tool," Sura replied. "Means I can activate it remotely." She worked the seals until they were closed, before grabbing her helmet from the table. "And of course, there is one thing yet to do."

The aqueron paused. "She gave you an order for that, then."

Sura sighed regretfully, pulling out her pistol. "She said that if it came down to it, she knew we couldn't risk you telling them." She sighed, shaking her head. "I'm sorry."

The aqueron shook his head. "Do not be," he replied. "I would have done the same in her place."

"Still." The asari walked towards him, placing her pistol gently against the aqueron's head. "You've been a good conversation buddy."

"I would say the same for you," said the aqueron. "Alas, I may never see Thessia. The way you talked about it, it sounds like such a lovely place."

"It's a beautiful world," said Sura. She sighed, moving the pistol ever so slightly to the right. "I'll try to make it painless. No guarantees about that, but I assume this works the same way, right?"

"We do indeed bleed the same," said the aqueron.

Sura nodded. "Then I gues-"

And then, Sura faintly heard a door open elsewhere on the ship. Her eyes widened, but before she could react, the door to the lab opened. Sura turned, raising her pistol and firing quickly. It was only after she saw him fall to the floor that she realized she had shot a praetorin officer twice, the officer falling to the floor with shock on his face. She quickly brought her pistol to bear, catching another officer off guard with a shot to the head.

Sura barely heard the shouting of a few voices from further away before a third officer spilled in. He aimed what looked like a tazer at her, and then the officer fired.

The asari seized up as she felt an electric current course through her body. She let out a loud cry, dropping her weapon as she fell to the floor. Before she could react, two more officers rushed in, and she felt her arms violently get shoved behind her.

It was only when they fitted the cuffs around her wrists that she saw the blank expression on the aqueron's face that the full reality of what had happened hit her.

Sura was hauled to her feet shortly afterwards, and as she was pulled out of the room, she blearily looked at the aqueron as another officer approached and removed his handcuffs.

"Spirits!" said one of the officers. "They had a prisoner the whole time!"

"Get him some medical attention!" another one shouted.

And before Sura could see what else happened, she was carried around the corner and out of the  _Lying Bastard_.

Within the  _Lying Bastard_ , the aqueron was pulled to his feet. Before long, a couple of praetorin had wheeled a stretcher in, some of them with shocked looks on their faces.

"Get him on this stretcher!" a praetorin shouted. "We need to make sure-"

But the aqueron held his hand up, slowly getting to his feet. He wobbled a little as soon as he stood up, but after a few seconds he was able to stand on his own feet.

"Thank you, but I can walk," said the aqueron. "They did not break my legs."

All the praetorin in the room glanced on in shock. "They... They did not harm you?" one praetorin asked around the table.

"No," said the aqueron. "Not physically, anyway. I can walk to the physical I know you demand." He paused, looking around. "I must say, I was not expecting such a rescue."

"Admiral Kalpalan had ordered a second search of this ship," one of the praetorin said. "We were going to start it in about ten minutes, but then we got a call from the DGI, said there was a comm signal in here. Is there anyone else on the ship?"

"No," said the aqueron. "The other occupants have left."

The praetorin frowned. "Other occupants?" he asked.

"Yes," said the aqueron. "They... are in the Obschesto now. I was powerless to stop them."

And then, a praetorin officer approached the aqueron. "So there are others from this ship who've infiltrated the Obschesto?" he asked.

"In the ra'ken arm," said the aqueron. "They jury rigged a device to bring them out of the ship and past security."

"This is an unacceptable breach!" said the praetorin. "And you were powerless to stop them."

"Yes," said the aqueron. "But I hope with this, we can stop them."

The praetorin frowned, looking at the aqueron. "With this?" he asked.

"I may have leaked a little information in an attempt to force a particular communications conversation," said the aqueron. "It was good fortune that it coincided with whatever trouble happened on the Obschesto that caused the whole place to go on high alert."

The praetorin leaned closer. "You leaked a little more information than was necessary?" he asked.

"It will not leave the Obschesto, of course," said the aqueron. "Not if you act quickly. They do not know what your weapons are capable of, nor do they have a mind for your technology. It should not be so difficult to capture them, and aside from that, it led directly to the conversation that caused you to break in now, did it not?"

The praetorin nodded. "You bring up a compelling point," he said. He huffed. "Very well. We will send you to the clinic, and we will debrief you with the DGI and Admiral Kalpalan himself. Perhaps you can tell us more about these other intruders."

"Of course," said the aqueron. He then paused, before bowing his head. "Oh, and if you must know... I am Agent 287, true name Pravuil Soryel. If you wish to let your Admiral Kalpalan know of this ahead of my arrival, then that is your discretion."

* * *

Kolyat thought he heard something on the opposite end of the door. He immediately tensed up, leaning his earhole against the door. He took a sharp intake of breath, placing his hands on the door to get a better sense of what was happening. He heard nothing for several seconds, the drell squinting.

And then, he heard something else. It was a sound so slight Kolyat was sure he would have missed it if he had not been paying attention, but there it was: the sound of something being placed against the door. Kolyat squinted, and beyond the door, he heard the whirr of some device.

Kolyat immediately pushed off the door, making his way to Ashley as quietly as he could.

Ashley turned her head around as he approached. He then leaned forward, pointing at the door. He opened his mouth to say something, but immediately Ashley put a finger up in the air.

She nodded, handing Kolyat a weapon. The drell took the pistol gingerly, Kalo turning his head. Ashley nodded at the quarian, before she and Kolyat slowly tarted to edge towards the window. She gestured to Kalo, moving her elbow quickly as if she were breaking down the window. She then also pointed at her eyes, gesturing between herself and the quarian before pointing back at Kalo.

The quarian nodded, and then Kolyat and Ashley slowly inched towards Kalo.

Kolyat then gestured to the window, leaning as close to Ashley's ear as he could. " _And how are we gonna land?_ " he mouthed to Ashley.

Ashley simply brought a hand up, making a rolling motion with her hand. Kolyat nodded, gulping nervously as they got into position, Kolyat edging closer to the window.

And then, they waited. For anything. Kolyat felt his heart race, even as Kalo peeked outside the window. Kolyat turned his gaze to him, noticing that he was still looking out intently. And as he saw this, Kolyat almost felt suffocated by the silence, and he found he had to close his eyes breathe slowly to try to steady his raging heart. His mouth dried out, and the exhale he released was shaky with tension.

And then, on the far end, there was a soft little click. That was all the warning anyone got before the door on the far end opened.

Ashley's response was immediate: she opened fire, Kolyat watching in shock as she downed two or three guys immediately. He then heard the planks break open, and he didn't even turn to see the planks give way under Kalo's weapon.

He was then grabbed by the quarian, and before long he found himself pulled out of the hole left in the planks on the window. He then found himself jumping forward, the ground rushing up to meet him. He landed awkwardly on his foot, only barely remembering to roll forward. As he rolled, he felt a dull pain in his foot, but found he had no time to concentrate as he suddenly realized there was a crowd all around him.

This brief pause was enough time for Kalo to catch up, the quarian gracefully rolling to the ground and grabbing Kolyat's arm roughly. "Come!"

Kolyat let out a rather sharp cry as he was pulled forward. He looked back just in time to see Ashley jump out, before he ducked into an alleyway and lost sight of her.

"Ashley!" Kolyat cried out.

Kalo simply shook his head, pulling Kolyat in. "Come on," said the quarian. "We need to move, and quickly."

"But Ashley-!"

"We will reconvene with her later," said Kalo. He pulled Kolyat down the alley as they rushed through it. "We cannot worry for her now. Come!"

Kolyat spared one last glance down the alley, before he turned and followed Kalo. Their footsteps echoed in the alleyway, and while Kolyat found himself glancing at the collections of decay that he could see he found himself unable to dwell on any one of them.

As they ran, however, Kolyat blinked when he suddenly saw a spotlight on them. He glanced up, seeing a hovering transportation vehicle above them. It shone a light down on them, the light blinding Kolyat for a second.

"Shit!" the drell shouted. "Kalo!"

"I see it," said the quarian. "Be on guard, Kolyat, they will be-"

And then, a laser projectile rained down. Kolyat was barely able to duck out of the way in time, the shot just barely grazing his head as it impacted against a nearby wall and melted some of the structure.

"Shit!" Kolyat cried out, his free hand covering his head. "Kalo!"

The quarian let go of Kolyat, the drell pausing at first. However, he then followed Kolyat at a run, the quarian opening his omni-tool. "Oh, I hope this works..." Kalo said.

The quarian raised his omni-tool, and Kolyat saw it do something on the omni-tool. However, for a few seconds, Kolyat saw nothing of note happen to the hovercraft above them. He found it difficult to see in the spotlight, but several seconds passed with no effect towards the hovercraft.

The hovercraft responded with laser fire. Kolyat had to duck down, several rounds barely missing his him as he took refuge behind a dumpster. Kalo did much the same thing, holding his arms over Kolyat's head as they watched the lasers burn holes through everything around them. Kalo even had to duck, a laser flying too close to his shoulder for comfort.

"Fuck..." Kolyat turned to Kalo as soon as the fire ceased. "How the hell are we going to lose these guys?"

Kalo glanced around. He saw an opening on the opposite end of the alley. It led to an alley that looked very narrow. He could not see the end of it, but it looked small enough that nobody would have any line of sight into it. He sized it up, looking at the transport. From there, he could see a projectile weapon, similar to an older chain gun. He imagined it had quite a bit of power, but needed a clearer aim than the alley ahead afforded them.

The quarian gripped Kolyat's arm again, pulling him along and rushing straight for that alley. "This way!"

Kolyat cried out in surprise, before he was yanked into an ever-twisting series of narrow alleyways. When Kolyat looked up, he saw that the hovercraft above them had no way to fire into the alleyway, it was so narrow. Kalo breathed a sigh of relief as they moved along, the transport still keeping up with them.

"I hope this isn't a dead end," said Kolyat. "We're screwed if it is..."

"There may be something-"

And then, a figure jumped down in front of Kalo. This stopped both of them in their tracks, Kolyat bumping right into Kalo as they looked at the figure before them. It bore a striking resemblance to their prisoner back on the  _Lying Bastard_ , though he had brown scales on his skin. He had a knife drawn, and the glare in his eyes was enough to set chills running up Kolyat's spine.

There was a tense moment of silence when Kalo sized up the figure in front of him, slowing down as he and Kolyat backed away from this aqueron. Kolyat moved a little faster, his hand squeezing on his pistol with all his might.

And then, the aqueron lunged.

Kalo cried out, flinging his hand forward to grab the aqueron's hand. Kolyat noticed a blade there. Before Kolyat could say much else, Kalo grabbed the blade, trying to twist the blade around. This failed, however, and Kalo was knocked straight to the side, his back landing against the far wall. Kolyat watched as the aqueron quickly brought his arm to bear, Kalo barely managing to block the slash as he rushed forward.

It was as Kolyat watched the fight that he raised his pistol. He looked on, noticing that the aqueron's attention was definitively focused on Kalo. He kept his finger off the trigger, exactly as Ashley had instructed him to, but at the same time he found himself cringing as Kalo and this mysterious aqueron traded blows.

And then, Kalo was thrown to the floor away from Kolyat. The aqueron stood between Kolyat and Kalo, advancing towards Kalo quickly. Kolyat could see the glint of the blade in what lighting there was, and then he saw the aqueron move down.

Kolyat squeezed his eyes shut. Before he had time to think about it, his finger squeezed down on the trigger. He nearly fell back from the first shot, but nevertheless he squeezed the trigger two more times in succession, before he felt the recoil force him to the floor.

All was silent in the seconds that followed. Kolyat immediately opened his eyes, breathing in and out harshly.

He opened them just in time to see the aqueron above Kalo fall to his knees. The drell thought he could see three fresh holes through the aqueron's back, one particular hole bleeding profusely. Kolyat sucked in a breath, and before he knew what to expect the aqueron fell back, his arms splaying out.

Kolyat shakily stood up, looking down at the aqueron he had killed. His eyes went wide, and he nearly dropped the pistol in his grip. His breath came out shakily, even as he saw Kalo slowly get to his feet. He turned to the dead aqueron on the ground, before looking to Kolyat.

The quarian quickly walked over to Kolyat. "Kolyat," said Kalo. "Are you okay?"

Kolyat swallowed, squeezing his eyes shut. He then turned up to the quarian, his eyes wide in fear. "I... I'm-"

And then, they heard the sounds of foot soldiers marching in from the end of the alley. Kolyat and Kalo both turned, before Kalo grabbed Kolyat by the wrist. They then darted down the alleyway, the drell nearly tripping before he picked up the pace.

Not too long after, they found a manhole right at the end of the alley. Kalo let go of Kolyat's wrist, squatting down and lifting the manhole cover off. Kolyat glanced up in fear, seeing people were gaining on the two of them as Kalo pushed the manhole cover away.

"Go," said Kalo. He glanced over his shoulder, hearing the footsteps approach. "Get in there, and start running. I'll be right behind you."

Kolyat nodded, before scrambling into the manhole. He then paused as he descended. "And if you're not?" he asked.

Kalo bowed his head. "Then keep going, and do not look back," he said.

Kolyat nodded, before descending the rest of the way. He looked up at the hole for a second, before turning his attention to his surroundings. The tunnels he was in were dark and a little bit cramped; indeed, as he moved forward, he found he had to duck under the ceiling. It smelled dank in the sewer, and Kolyat found himself breathing through his mouth as he began to move forward. He then noticed he was on the edge as his eyes grew accustomed to the light. He then moved forward, reaching an intersection rather quickly.

It was then that he heard a commotion behind him. He stopped, turning behind him as he looked back at the manhole. He heard the sounds of a struggle, and of Kalo loudly swearing. After a few seconds, the commotion stopped, Kolyat slowly moving around the corner while keeping his gaze trained on the manhole.

He then saw someone drop down. He gasped, recognizing it not as Kalo, but as someone else.

He pressed his back against the wall, his breath coming in short bursts. He squeezed his eyes, the instinct to help Kalo overcoming him for a second. However, as he looked up, he remembered Kalo's words, the tone of voice and even the way his head was tilted.

Kolyat squeezed his eyes shut, before he took off away from the manhole, his grip remaining tight on his pistol as he ran away as fast as he could.

* * *

Ashley rushed away from the manhole opening as soon as she could. She was followed immediately after by a couple of police men, their rifles at the ready. Ashley simply kept moving, knowing she was already set back by having to remove the manhole cover. She ran as fast as she could, finally coming across an intersection some ten or fifteen yards away.

It was only as she made it to the bend and turned right that she felt a searing pain suddenly come to her left arm.

She let out a loud cry, unable to hold it back as she stumbled forward. She glanced down, seeing that some blazing-hot liquid had splashed right onto the back of her upper arm, just where her tricep met her elbow. The liquid was melting the piece of her armor, and she felt the burn reach the back of her arm.

 _Shit!_  she thought. She nearly came to a stop, before glancing behind her and remembering that she was being pursued. She shook her head, before bounding down the passageway.

 _Shit, gotta get this off_ , she thought. She then looked at her utility belt, before turning her attention to the water that stood between where she was and the walkway on the other side of the tunnel. She knew the water would probably help cool the piece of armor down quickly. It would also soothe the burn she knew she would have somewhat.

But then another thought occurred to her:  _these are sewers_ , she realized.  _Who knows what's in there?_  And then, another thought came to her mind:  _And the noise would attract them to me..._

She then shook her head, quickly grabbing her combat knife from her utility belt as she turned a corner. "Looks like there's only one way out," she whispered, before she gritted her teeth.

Ashley then raised her arm, bringing the knife up to the segment of armor. As she rounded another corner, she began to saw away at the piece of armor left there. The blade cut into the fabric layer of her armor. She knew her drill sergeant would have a conniption if he ever saw Ashley cut the fabric, but she knew she had no other choice. Of course, the blade began to transfer some of the heat from the armor piece into her arm, and she had to avoid crying out loudly.

Tears spilled forth from her eyes, but she grit her teeth, the pain inducing her to saw away at her armor faster. She gritted her teeth, only managing to keep her eyes open. She lost some pace, stumbling forward before slamming up against a nearby wall. She was only pushed forward by the shouting of voices behind her, and even after a while the pain became unbearable enough that she almost slowed to a stop.

And then, finally, she opened her eyes to see an intersection. She had enough of a mind left that she was able to see the piece of armor was almost off. She looked to the side, and in her hazed mind, she made a decision in a split second.

She quickly sheathed her combat knife, before grabbing the hot piece of armor in her hand. She then ripped it off, biting hard enough on her lip to draw blood. She then flung the piece of armor away, the armor piece bouncing off the pathway before landing in the water with a loud sizzle. She then turned in the direction opposite the one she threw her armor piece, picking up the pace as she opened her omni-tool.

The wave of relief Ashley felt when the soothing coolness of the medigel covered her burn was like nothing she had felt in a rather long time.

She then stumbled around the corner, not stopping as she immediately picked up her pace. Eventually, the voices behind her died down, and Ashley glanced back. She had crossed she never knew how many corners by then, but she saw no trace of her pursuers.

Not wanting to take a chance, however, she quickly dipped into the water. It came up to her knees, and that was all she paid attention to as she crossed the water and crossed it to the pathway on the other side. She then looked up, pulling herself onto the other pathway even despite her left arm screaming in protest. When she climbed to the other side, she then moved away, disappearing past an intersection in a direction she figured none of her pursuers would follow her to.

She then kept moving, not stopping until she found an alcove covered by pipes. She then wedged her way into the pipes, hiding in the alcove. She paused for breath, before sighing.

"Shit," she whispered. She then lifted her left arm, seeing just how bad the burn was for the first time. She cringed: it was definitely a third degree burn of some type, that much was clear even through the medigel. Of course, there was no pain around her burn by then, but that unsettled her just as much.

"Dammit... I'm going to have to get that treated when I get back," Ashley said, dropping her arm and adjusting her posture so her burn was not resting against the wall. "And even with the wonders of modern medicine, that's going to leave a scar..."

She then frowned, before looking up. And then, something else occurred to her, her eyes widening from the revelation.

"Wait... that shot went right past my shields!"

* * *

Jodie paused as they came to another manhole cover. She then shook her head, gently depositing Liara against the wall before leaning back and resting her back on the opposite wall.

"Is something the matter?" Liara asked.

Jodie sighed, sliding to the ground and hugging her knees close. "I'm worried about Sa'lem," she said. She looked up. "I shouldn't have let him go."

"He did leave rather forcefully, Jodie," Liara replied. She pressed her hands to her knees, keeping herself up. "There wasn't much you could've done."

"Bullshit," Jodie replied. She heard Aiden chirp. "He's walking into trouble, I know it."

"Maybe his father will be able to clear him," said Liara.

Jodie sighed. "It's not that simple," she said. She then looked up. "You know I've been on the run before, Liara. When governments hunt someone down, they get relentless about it." She looked back from where they came. "They're after Sa'lem now, I know it."

Liara paused. "I do get the sense they're the kind of people who would hunt someone down like that," she said. "Regardless of the facts... You said he was only pulled into your stakes by accident?"

"Yes," Jodie replied. "And now that they've seen him with me, they'll assume some things that aren't true..." She shook her head. "He'll be a problem to them. And if you're a problem to them, they won't stop until they've chased you down..." She then looked up. "And then who knows what'll happen?"

"I see..." Liara looked over at Jodie. "You know, it'd probably be a bad idea to go after him. It'd just get me arrested again, and then you'd be in the same boat I am."

Jodie leaned back in surprise. "You're the one to suggest that?" she asked.

"I don't want to get recaptured by them," said Liara.

Jodie nodded. "I can understand that, and we are up against a tough enemy," she said. "But I can't just abandon him, not after all he did to help me. I mean... if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have known you were even on this place."

Liara nodded. "So you didn't know, then," she said.

"No," said Jodie. "We're here for intel, and for other prisoners." She looked up. "I'm pretty sure my saving you has just thrown a wrench into the whole thing. And now... I don't know what's going to happen. But I feel like if we leave Sa'lem..."

Liara nodded. "Do you think he got far?" she asked.

"Probably," said Jodie. She then stood up. "We're going back for him."

The asari dipped her head forward, before she let out a heavy sigh. "Let's hope this doesn't backfire," she said.

She then pushed off the wall. Her position was a little shaky, but she held her arms out for a second. She then stood perfectly still, Jodie standing up and walking up to her.

Jodie shook her head, crossing her arms in front of her. "You still came off of bad captivity," she said. "I'm not letting you fight."

Liara nodded. "My legs feel a little shaky, anyway." She then stepped forward, her arm draped over Jodie's once again. "But what else am I going to do?"

"I don't know," said Jodie. "But I'll let you know once I think of something."

And with this, Jodie started heading back the way they came, her footsteps a little faster as they moved towards the point they came from.

* * *

Eventually, Sa'lem emerged out in the open. He looked up, seeing a troop transport scanning that arm of the Obschesto. He didn't bother hiding behind anything, allowing a light to shine rather brightly on him. The only resistance he offered was to put his hand up to block the powerful light that had shown on him.

After a couple of seconds, various soldiers poured right out of the transport, falling down on various ropes. As soon as they landed, they regarded Sa'lem, raising their weapons.

Sa'lem immediately threw his hands up, taking a step back. "Hold there!" he said. "I can explain-"

"Get on the ground!" a soldier barked.

Sa'lem's eyes bulged out, and he took another step back in surprise. "Whoah, hold on!" he said. "Trust me, we've seen a lot, but I can explain! Look, I didn't have anything to-"

And then, he felt someone grab him roughly from behind. Immediately, he was forced to the ground, his hands roughly pulled behind his back. He felt something hard clamp around his wrists, and before he knew it his head was forced against the floor.

Sa'lem grunted out in pain. "W-what the hell are you doing?" he asked.

He then heard someone's footsteps as this person approached. He glanced up, seeing a pair of Praetorin feet. The coloration of the scales seemed familiar, however, and when he looked up, he saw Karshia's face. She looked down at him, the young tolahña finding it difficult to read his expression.

"Karshia!" he said. "Karshia, what are you doing h-?"

"Sa'lem K'lek," Karshia began, her authoritative voice cutting him off mid-sentence. "You are under arrest for conspiracy to commit grand treason against our galaxy."

Salem's eyes widened, and his upper eyes seemed to pop out of their sockets. "W-what?" he asked.

"You are also under arrest for conspiracy to aid the cause of the Punargathana," she continued. "Do not resist."

"Wh-whoah, wait a minute!" Sa'lem cried out. "Karshia, stop, I've got nothing to do with this!"

"Prepare the docks, men," Karshia commanded as she turned away. "We're to transport him directly to the Tayurmya, where he will be processed."

"Proce... Karshia, wait!" Sa'lem shouted, his voice colored by desperation. "Karshia, stop! I swear, I've got nothing to do with this! I didn't even know she was-"

"Get on it, men!" Karshia barked back over Sa'lem's protests.

"Yes, ma'am!" The other officers then hoisted Sa'lem to his feet, and they moved quickly to the ropes that led up to the transport.

"Stop!" shouted Sa'lem. "Stop! Let me talk to my dad! Please, we can-"

His head reeled forward, and he was temporarily dazed from the hit one of the other officers had given him. "Oh shut up," a brusque voice said behind him. "You can tell it to nobody. We're bringing you in!"

Sa'lem could not say anything else as the officer who dragged him pulled him up against the rope. And though Sa'lem wriggled in protest, there was naught he could do as they were both raised up to the transport.

* * *

Jodie and Liara had returned to the mouth of the alley just in time to witness Sa'lem being hoisted up into the transport. They hid behind a garbage disposal, the two of them looking up as the younger tolahña struggled in his handcuffs.

"Dammit..." Jodie shook her head, looking back at Liara. "I knew that would happen."

"Well, we've still got time..." Liara glanced around the alleyway, before her gaze turned to a nearby ladder. "Well, I don't think we'll be able to stop them on the ground."

"No," said Jodie. "Even if I could, I don't think Aiden could reach that high from here."

Liara turned, before releasing Jodie's arms. She grasped the ladder, ascending it as Jodie turned to her. "There may be something we can do from up here," Liara said.

"Liara, we'll be seen!" said Jodie.

"We'll be seen down here too," Liara replied. "Besides, we can only really act from up here, right?"

Jodie sighed, nodding as she then began to ascend the ladder behind Liara. "I'll be right behind," she said. "You go up and see where that transport is heading."

Liara looked up, pulling herself up the ladder faster.


	14. Chapter 14

Sa'lem was pushed to the back of the transport. Once there, the young tolahña was pushed into a see-through pill-like container, which closed up. Sa'lem found himself even less able to move, the young man looking on in shock as he was deposited in.

He then looked as one of the many praetorin present patted the capsule he was placed in. "Prisoner's secure," he said. "Do we search the area more for them, or do we head back to base?"

"Search the area," Karshia replied as she stepped in. "Sa'lem was alone; the rogue may come back for him."

"And if she does?" asked a different praetorin.

"Then we're ready for that," said Karshia. She then moved to the cockpit. "Make us do a sweep, Voltran. Turn on the heat sensors."

"Yes, ma'am," said the pilot, loudly enough for Sa'lem to hear. "Moving to scan."

Sa'lem banged himself against the capsule. "Hey, Karshia!" he shouted. "Please, let me out of here!"

Karshia's attention turned right back to Sa'lem. "Be quiet," she commanded. She then turned to another praetorin, and Sa'lem noticed this praetorin was readying some equipment. "The hell is that?"

"Oh, it's, um... spirit dampening equipment, ma'am," said the praetorin. "What if she proves to be too much for our spirit-touched?"

Karshia frowned, before nodding. "Good thinking, private," she said. "But remember, she also has mass accelerator weapons. One shot from those, and we'll all be done for. If that fails, we'll have an advantage either way, but she may be stupid enough to try something with that, so be prepared."

"Hey!" Sa'lem shouted, louder this time. "Let me out of here, I swear, I'm not a traitor!"

Karshia glared at Sa'lem. "Be quiet!" she ordered. She turned her attention back to a praetorin who was already fiddling with communications equipment. "Keep one hand on that, private. The second we see evidence of a spirit attack, you call our guy in."

"Yes ma'am!" said the praetorin in response. "Got the frequency set and everything."

"Good," said Karshia. "Keep it on there and-"

"Hey!" Sa'lem pressed himself against the edge of the container. "Let me out of-"

And then, Karshia stamped forward, looking straight at Sa'lem and getting closer.

"Stop resisting!"

Sa'lem reared back at the tone Karshia's voice had acquired: it was harsh, perhaps a little louder than he was used to hearing from her. He leaned back suddenly, his cuffed hands splaying against the back of the capsule behind him. Her tone had cut right through to him, and he got the message rather loud.

But when he looked into her eyes, he realized something else: Karshia's frown was not one of anger. Her brows were furrowed, but it took perhaps one muscle too many to look truly angry. Additionally, her eyes shined a little differently, and her snout was parted more than Sa'lem was used to seeing. She looked almost sad, pleading...

And that was when Sa'lem closed his mouth. The tolahña breathed in nervously, before shrinking into the capsule itself.

Karshia looked away, turning to her men. "Anyway, we have our orders," she said. "Capture the spirit-touched, take her in alive. What happens to the traitor now is of no-"

And then, Sa'lem heard a loud booming sound within the aircraft. He pressed his hands inside the capsule he was in, looking around in shock as he saw the soldiers look around.

But the soldier at the comms unit had already pressed down on a button on his console. "Yes, command?" said that praetorin. "Send in the-"

The device shorted out soon after. The praetorin manning it had managed a glance up at Karshia as she buckled herself into one of the side benches. Karshia growled, before looking at the others. "Brace yourselves!" she said. "Remember, we're not to engage her unless it's absolutely necessary!"

And then, Sa'lem heard a loud bang. Before long, he felt himself get pressed into the capsule, and he saw the world outside spin. He thought he could smell some amount of smoke, but as he was pressed further into the capsule, he lost all sense of that. He faintly realized the craft was spinning out of control, a fact emphasized by Karshia as she shouted orders at her men.

And then, the swirling outside came to an abrupt stop. Sa'lem heard a loud crash before he was tossed into the other end of the capsule. He laid there dazed for a second, not really sure of anything that was happening outside of his capsule.

He then pushed himself up, just in time to see the door of the transport go flying into the transport. It barely missed the dampening device as some of the praetorin rapidly unbuckled their seat restraints. They all stood up.

And then, Sa'lem looked up, seeing Elzabet... no,  _Jodie_ step into the transport. Sa'lem's eyes lit up in surprise as she stepped in, and he breathed in nervously as Jodie's eyes locked with his for a brief second.

And then, the praetorin closest to her rushed forward, his talons drawn. He thrusted forward with his arm. Jodie caught his arm, kicking at the praetorin's leg and tripping him. The praetorin fell to the ground, Jodie immediately turning her attention to the next praetorin. He approached cautiously, before bringing his hand down in what Sa'lem recognized as an undercut.

Jodie dodged this, and before Sa'lem could see what had happened, the praetorin on the ground was flung up by an invisible force. He crashed straight into the second praetorin Jodie had engaged. They both landed across the transport, but by then, Jodie had already advanced towards Sa'lem a little.

She was stopped by a third praetorin, this one not bothering to approach cautiously. Jodie barely managed to dodge the swipe of the claws aimed at her by leaping to the side, but as she got to her feet and backed up she walked right into Karshia's arms. Jodie frowned, looking back as Karshia restrained her, the third praetorin standing up and rushing at her.

Jodie, however, was not unprepared. She jumped off, kicking the praetorin very hard in the chest and sending him sprawling back. She then used the momentum from the kick to slam Karshia straight into the seats behind her. The praetorin did not sit down, but it gave Jodie enough time to gather her bearings. Thus, she slammed down on Karshia's big foot claw, and Karshia let out a loud cry as she released Jodie.

Jodie then rushed back towards the capsule, and Sa'lem watched as a fifth praetorin was thrown to the other end of the transport. Jodie then looked at Sa'lem right through the part of the capsule they could see through. Sa'lem looked up in shock, glancing up at Jodie as she began to feel around the outside of the capsule, looking for anything she could exploit as a weakness.

She had no time for this, though, for then Sa'lem saw one of the praetorin turn, with his back towards Jodie. Sa'lem shook his head.

"Behind you!"

Jodie turned just in time. She barely managed to duck underneath the tail of the praetorin as it snapped back. Sa'lem heard the crack of the tail against the capsule, and though it did no marking Sa'lem knew it would have left a mark on Jodie. She simply stood back up, getting into a fighting stance as the praetorin reared at her again. She ducked under a claw swipe, before she punched him hard in the gut. She then turned back to Sa'lem's capsule, glancing around for anything she could use to open it.

She then nodded, turning around just in time to block a claw swipe from another praetorin. It was then that Sa'lem heard a click in the capsule's door. Sa'lem was then caught off guard as the capsule doors opened. He looked outside, still cuffed as Jodie kicked one of the other praetorin away.

"Sa'lem!" Jodie turned, roughly grabbing the tolahña's arm. "Come on!"

She then yanked him through, making a mad dash for the exit. A praetorin rushed at her, but he was flung right into the cockpit by something unseen, and then the two of them rushed out of the craft to the nearby rooftops.

There, Liara stood in wait. "Come!" Liara said as Jodie joined them. "We have to run!"

"Yeah, I figured," said Jodie as she grabbed Liara by the arm. "Come on, let's go!"

Sa'lem simply looked at Jodie in surprise. "You... you came back for me," he said.

"I had a little guilt trip," she said. "You helped me find out Liara was here, the least I could do is get you out of this situation."

Sa'lem shook my head. "Thanks, but I think my dad-"

And then, a strange force acted on Jodie. All three were sent tumbling to the roof, their run coming to a halt right as they were about to approach the ladder down. There was a second or two of silence as Jodie looked up, turning back to look behind her. Sa'lem and Liara followed suit, Jodie standing up and looking at the figure that approached.

He looked startlingly like a human, and unlike some of the others Jodie and Liara had seen, this one's eyes failed to glow. He was dressed in what looked like a catsuit, with a combat knife strapped to his leg. He carried himself with a fair bit of poise, and as Jodie crouched slightly she saw him draw a handle. He pressed something, and out came a bright red flourescent blade, similar to the one Shepard used.

And then, Jodie heard Aiden screech in fear. That was when she frowned, looking straight at the man in front of him.

"A spirit-touched..." she whispered. "Shit..."

The man stepped forward, his expression unmoving. Jodie looked to Liara, before gesturing her away. "Take Sa'lem and stand back," she said.

Liara frowned, looking back at the approaching artician. "Jodie, will you be all right?"

"I don't know," she replied. "But if you're not back there, I won't be able to fight him off."

Liara nodded, before she gently grabbed Sa'lem. The tolahña walked off, casting a glance back at Jodie and giving a tug on his handcuffs before they both stepped back. With this, Jodie got into a fighting stance, looking directly at the artician in front of her. And as she did this, her heart began to beat a little faster.

"Spirit-touched," the artician greeted. "I never though I'd meet a sister on the wrong side of the law."

Jodie breathed in, flexing her fingers a little to calm her nerves. "I never thought I'd meet another like myself."

The spirit-touched in front of her tilted his head, and Jodie found a curious expression come on his face. "Sheltered, were you?" he asked.

Jodie chuckled bitterly. "You could say that," she said. "Probably why you guys don't have any files on myself."

"We were curious about that," the artician said. He then paused, and Jodie noticed his expression was not malicious. "As a spirit-touched, there are so few of us left. Please, make this easy on us and turn yourself in. We give special treatment to the spirit-touched."

Jodie glanced at Sa'lem and Liara, before turning her attention back to the artician in front of her. "Sorry, I'm afraid I can't do that," she said. "There are things that are more important than that."

"It is a shame," he said. "We are so few in number now, particularly after the passing of Jon'ison Shardan."

And here, Aiden let out a confused click, Jodie's shoulders jolting. "Jon'ison...?" she asked. She had to bite on her lower lip to keep herself from saying the name she knew him by.

"Aye," he said. He then frowned, before stepping forward. "Before I begin, I must tell you, I will  _not_ enjoy this."

And with this, Jodie saw the artician rush forward, his blade drawn. Jodie prepared to leap to the side. However, as soon as she tried to move, she realized her foot felt like it was held down by a large stone. She pulled with all her might, before realizing that the artician was still lunging at her. She let out a loud cry.

All of a sudden, Aiden's blue aura flew up around her. It managed to divert the course of the blade of light, and then Jodie tumbled to the side from the sudden loss of weight. She immediately felt a force constrict her throat, and as she began gasping for air Jodie realized that there was no physical form acting on her throat. She began to kick around helplessly.

 _Aiden, help!_ she thought.

Aiden growled, before suddenly Jodie heard a kind of supernatural crash. She immediately felt the force lighten up, and she coughed and sputtered as the air rushed into her throat. She then looked up just in time to see the artician above her bear down on her with his sword.

Without thinking, Jodie raised her arm, catching his wrist and being able to pull on the artician's wrist just enough that he was pulled right over her. Sensing the impending accident, the artician above her prepared for a roll, and his intended blow ended up being used for him to roll to his feet.

As Jodie pushed herself up, she looked as the artician assumed a fighting stance. She frowned, stumbling into a fighting stance of her own.

"I notice you haven't used your gun," said the artician. "There is honor in that."

Jodie frowned, looking at the gun on her hips. She then shook her head. "You'd just have your spirit block all the shots."

The artician tilted his head to the side. "How did you know I would do that?" he asked.

Jodie chuckled. "It's what I would do," she said.

The artician nodded. "I don't sense that kind of training from you," he said.

"I didn't get it," she said. "Doesn't mean I won't stop resisting."

The artician simply shook his head. Jodie then watched as he brought his blade up again, before rearing back and rushing at Jodie. She tried to move again, but found she was still in place as the heavy weight on her foot returned. She looked back up at him, but this time, Aiden clicked confidently. Jodie looked up a little confused, watching as the man approached and moved to stab Jodie with the sword.

However, just before the blade made contact, Jodie noticed that the blade vanished into thin air. The artician's eyes widened in surprise, and he hesitated a little bit.

That was all the time Jodie needed. She reached forward, grabbing his wrists immediately. She whirled around, her hands gripping her wrists as she pulled herself into a position where she could elbow the artician quickly. She then brought her elbow down, getting him in the gut quickly before turning him around. She stretched out the hand with the hilt, rearing up to punch him.

And then, she felt a force acted on her punching hand, and then she was pulled away by an unseen force. The force let go very quickly, and then Jodie was sent tumbling away. She rolled once or twice, before she found her bearings and managed to get to a position that would allow her to get to her feet.

And as she did this, she watched as the hilt of the blade was yanked out of the artician's hands. Before the opposing spirit could grab it, the object bounced off of the roof, before falling into the street below. Jodie thought she saw something rush to get the blade, but Aiden trilled in triumph as Jodie heard an otherworldly bump.

Jodie then looked back to the artician in front of her. The artician frowned, before assuming a fighting stance. "How did your spirit think to disable that blade?" he asked.

In response, Jodie smiled, before bending her knees slightly and bunching her hands into fists. "It was the second thing I thought to do," she said.

The artician frowned. "Nobody I know would ever have thought to do that," he said.

Jodie smiled. "They don't have imagination," she commented, raising her fists. "Just you and me, then, hm?"

The artician in front of her frowned in concentration, before they both approached each other slowly. Jodie heard Aiden click loudly as the two spirits waged war above them. Jodie's frown deepened, and she waited for him to make the first move.

She did not have to wait long: the artician launched forward with a punch. Jodie reached forward, grabbing the fist gently and twisting it over her short stature. The artician managed to land on his feet, however, and Jodie was not quick enough to react as he suddenly struck her in the gut with his palm. The blow winded her considerably, and then Jodie was pushed back abruptly even as she gasped for air.

She came to stop several feet away, seeing the artician in question get suddenly knocked away. Before Jodie could stand up, she felt something grab at her ankle. It then dragged her back towards the artician, and in her dazed state she was powerless to stop it. After a second or so, she felt whatever was dragging her suddenly let go, Aiden releasing a series of angry clicks. Jodie moved to stand up, but before she could, the artician was on top of her. He delivered a punch to her face, and it was powerful enough that Jodie felt her senses get strange for a little bit.

Jodie's breath came in short bursts as the artician straddled her torso. "You were good," he said. "But it doesn't look like you were good enough."

Jodie grunted, hearing Aiden gurgle in hurt concern, before she heard a loud yelp from him.

"But, this was a good fight, at least," said the artician. He then pulled out a pair of handcuffs. "Alas, you will likely be sent to the Unspoken Place for this injustice against us. We need to keep track of our spirit-touched better."

And then, Jodie became faintly aware of a feeling in her bicep. She didn't break contact, realizing pretty quickly that Aiden must have slipped her combat knife out of its sheath ever so subtly.

Jodie quickly brought up a hand to attempt to punch the artician in the face. He caught it, however, and attached the first part of the handcuffs to her wrist. "I wish you would have turned yourself in, sister," he said. "Us spirit-touched must stick together. There are few enough left as is, it's not good for our health to-"

And then, with her other hand, Jodie grabbed the handle of her combat knife. Without much warning, she pulled the blade out of its sheath, and sank the blade into the artician's stomach before he could reply.

His eyes widened in shock, but Jodie was quick: she pulled the knife out again, stabbing him again just a few inches to the right of her initial stab. It was just enough that she was able to roll him off of her, Aiden letting out a triumphant trill as Jodie pushed herself up to her side. As the artician fell onto his side and began gasping for air, Jodie stabbed a third time, just underneath his ribcage.

Jodie shook her head, looking at him as he glanced up at her in shock. "I wish I could have, too," Jodie replied. "But there are much bigger things at stake here. I'm sorry."

And with this, Jodie ran back towards where Sa'lem and Liara were. She moved quickly, seeing the remains of the transport again as she looked to them. "Come on!" she shouted. "We've got to get-"

And then, Jodie stumbled forward, Aiden letting out a cry of anguish. Suddenly, she felt just a little bit sluggish, but it did not stop her from approaching Liara and Sa'lem.

Sa'lem looked up, frowning. "They activated the dampener," he said.

"What?" Jodie asked.

"They have a dampener," Sa'lem replied. "Whatever Aiden can normally do, he can't do it now."

Jodie suddenly turned, looking at the praetorin as they rushed right out of the remains of the transport. They had their weapons drawn, and Jodie could see the one whose toe claw she had stepped on suddenly come out, looking absolutely furious. She raised her weapon, the remaining praetorin doing the same. She then saw another transport land not far from where they were, and praetorin poured out of this transport, weapons all aimed at her.

Jodie could hear Aiden's futile cry. It was also somewhat muted, and before long she realized it came from where the lead praetorin's gun was.

 _Shit, Aiden..._  She looked around.  _You can't do_ anything  _now_?

Aiden confirmed with a weak murmur. Before Aiden could reply in any way, the lead praetorin breathed in.

"Desist your resistance at once!" this praetorin shouted. "You're outnumbered, outgunned, and your spirit is weak! Even with your mass accelerator weapons, you cannot get past us!"

Jodie blinked, looking around at the praetorin pointing their weapons at her and her two charges. Faintly, she noticed a pair of medics tending to the artician spirit-touched, whose soft moans were the only thing breaking up the silence. She stared down the remaining guns, before turning back to the gap that led to the alley below. She frowned, pondering the possibility of making a break for a sewer system.

But then, Aiden's weak gurgle reminded her that, without Aiden's help, they were not likely to survive the fall. And then, she turned her attention back to the crowd aiming weapons at her.  _Even if I did survive the fall_...

_Fuck._

Jodie breathed in, staring at them defiantly.

"Turn yourself in, spirit-touched!" the lead praetorin barked. "Or we will kill all three of you where you stand."

Jodie breathed in, not moving a muscle. She scanned the people around her, knowing that no matter how quickly she drew her gun, there was no cover she could use to defend herself or Sa'lem and Liara. And then, she closed her eyes.

"Shit..."

Jodie took a heavy step forward. Sa'lem and Liara both glanced at her in surprise, wondering what she was going to do next. Jodie took another step forward, looking at everyone in front of her.

_What do I do..._

"Hands in the air!" shouted the lead praetorin. "On your knees, and hands in the-"

And then, the ruins of the nearby transport exploded. As soon as they did that, Aiden let out a trill that quickly increased in volume. He then chirped loudly at Jodie, and then she noticed that all the praetorin had turned over to the doubly-destroyed transport. Further, she noticed their leader glancing over, the leader's face contorting in a mixture of confusion and anger.

Jodie immediately turned, Aiden clicking at her frantically. She ran away, stretching her hands out to Sa'lem and Liara as she rushed for the edge.

"Grab my hand!" Jodie shouted. "I've got an idea!"

Sa'lem and Liara both grasped her hands. They then all rushed towards the edge, Sa'lem looking over at Jodie. She simply narrowed her eyes.

"Open fire!"

But by the time the lead praetorin had shouted this order, Jodie had already leapt over the edge, Liara and Sa'lem doing likewise. The three of them then saw Aiden's blue aura surround their feet, and Jodie knew that whatever damper had been around had been dealt with already. Thus, when they all landed, Jodie looked right down the alleyway the had traversed earlier.

"Come on!" said Jodie. "To the-"

And then, Jodie's omni-tool sprang to life. She was only able to glance down for enough time to see that there was a call connecting to her communications unit, before suddenly she heard a small amount of static right in her ear.

" _All right,_ there  _we go,_ " a female voice said. " _Do you hear me, spirit-touched?_ "

Jodie paused, bringing her hand up to her ear. "Who the hell are you?" she asked.

She heard a chuckle from the other side. " _A 'thank you' would've done, but I'll take that,_ " she said. " _I'm the only reason you managed to escape that situation with your freedom._ "

Jodie frowned. "Punargathana..." she whispered.

" _Yep,_ " said the lady. " _And like it or not, you've-_ "

"Look out!"

Sa'lem pulled Jodie right back against the building behind them. Aiden flared up, his blue shield surrounding herself, Sa'lem, and Liara, before Jodie immediately saw the white-hot rounds from the parallel galaxy rain down on Aiden's shield. Jodie frowned, looking up at the praetorin who still stood on the level above them.

Jodie frowned. "I hope you have a way out of this," she said.

" _Of course,_ " the voice replied. " _But you have to do_ exactly  _as I say_."

"And how do I know I can trust you?" asked Jodie. "This is a fine time to show up, when I actually need help."

" _Because I believe we can help each other,_ " said the female voice. " _We've been wanting the assistance of a spirit-touched for years, and the fact that you crashed that humiliation on your own like that... You may be the one. But at the same time, we can provide you with help. Resources, information... anything to help the resistance. And if you have anyone in a difficult situation, we can help them._ "

Jodie chuckled. "Yeah, well, I'm just warning you now, I'm  _not_ at all what you expect," she said. "It's a very long story, and-"

" _-it can wait for when you're not getting shot at,_ " said the female voice. " _There'll be time to chit-chat later, but right now, you've got to get_ out  _of there. So the question is; are you willing to take a leap of faith?_ "

Jodie frowned. She then looked up at the people shooting at her, seeing that it was only a matter of time before the law enforcement above them would pull a new trick out of their sleeves. They were crafty, after all: they had thought to dampen Aiden, which would have ended badly if not for that rocket.  _Then that must have been..._  She nodded.

She doubted that the Punargathana would not use her for their dirty work. But at the same time, she knew there was only one way out.

Jodie nodded. "What do we do?"

" _First, step outside of the alley,_ " the woman said. " _Cross the street, and go left. Take cover behind the second car you come across_."

Jodie nodded, turning to Liara and Sa'lem. "Come on," she said. "Aiden, keep us covered."

The entity chirped, before Jodie grabbed the two of them and rushed out of the alleyway. Even as she crossed the street, she was pelted by whatever fire was there, but Aiden kept true as the group crossed the street. Jodie made sure to cross straight away, but even as she reached the pavement she knew which automobile to hide behind. Thus, she pushed Sa'lem and Liara ahead of her, and then Aiden's shield dissipated just as Jodie ducked behind cover.

Jodie breathed in and out, before looking up at the people that were raining fire on her from the rooftop. "Okay, what now?" Jodie asked.

" _There should be a store front right in front of you,_ " she said.

Jodie looked up, and saw the glass storefront. She nodded, seeing from the items inside that it looked like some kind of grocery store. "There is," she said.

" _When I tell you, you need to break that window and run to the back of the_   _store,_ " The voice continued. _"The back door will lead you to an alley with an open manhole. Enter it, and close the manhole behind you. I will tell you where to go from there._ "

Jodie nodded, pulling out her pistol. She looked over at Sa'lem, before discretely sliding the gun to him. Sa'lem frowned, looking at the weapon and turning his gaze back to Jodie.

"Jodie, we're  _not_ shooting at them," said Sa'lem. "That's suicide!"

"They're not the target," Jodie said. She then pointed at the window as discretely as she could. "When I give you the signal, shoot those windows. There will be major kickback on that gun, but you've got a large target, so just hold your arms steady and you should be able to shoot it."

Sa'lem nodded, before picking up the gun and preparing himself for the shots. "And what about Liara?" he asked.

"I've got her," said Jodie.

"Are you certain about that?" asked Liara as she leaned forward.

"We need to move quickly," said Jodie. "It'll probably be faster if I try to-"

And then, they heard an explosion behind them. Jodie turned, just in time to see the flames of the explosion die out on the rooftop in front of them. The gunshots ceased for a little bit of time, and before Jodie knew what to do, she saw as suddenly, the area around her was shrouded in smoke. It smelled foul, but Aiden clicked once to confirm that it was not hazardous smoke.

"They're obscuring us from... They're helping us escape!" Liara said.

" _Now!_ "

Jodie immediately nodded to Sa'lem. The tolahña quickly brought the pistol up, and fired. The gun smacked him straight in the face, but the glass of the shop window shattered nevertheless. Jodie nodded, picking up Liara and hoisting her over her shoulders as she ran into the shop.

"Sa'lem!" Jodie shouted as she vaulted over the windowsill into the shop.

"Right behind you!" he replied, joining Jodie as they both ran down the aisle.

Liara looked ahead, Jodie and Sa'lem both dashing to the side as they broke into the back door of the store. They passed what looked like a meat refrigerator, before they found a door right in the back. Jodie burst straight through the door, finding an alley on the other side. She looked to either end as Sa'lem followed right behind her.

They then noticed an open manhole to the right. Jodie nodded, pointing it out to Sa'lem. "In there!"

The tolahña nodded, quickly rushing over to the manhole. Jodie was there as well, beckoning Sa'lem to go quickly. As soon as he was down some amount, Jodie deposited Liara, the asari taking the hint and climbing down as quickly as she could. And as Liara disappeared into the manhole, Jodie spared one last glance up, just in time to hear the whirring of an approaching transport.

Without saying anything, Jodie turned, quickly climbing down into the sewer there. As soon as her head had passed the threshold, Aiden slid the manhole cover over her. It clicked into place just as the transport roared loudly above her. Jodie immediately climbed down, not wanting to be around when the manhole cover was lifted.

When her feet touched the ground, Jodie turned on her omni-tool flashlight, noting that Sa'lem and Liara were waiting at the foot of the ladder. She then nodded, bringing her free hand to her ear. "Okay, we're in," said Jodie. "Where do we go from here?"

" _Go straight down the corridor,_ " she said. " _On the first intersection, take a right._ "

Jodie nodded, quickly grabbing Sa'lem's wrist and setting off down the corridor. After about a minute of quick walking, Jodie found the intersection in question, immediately making a right down it while keeping her omni-tool's flashlight aimed in front of her.

She briefly let go of Sa'lem's wrist, bringing her hand up to the comm unit. "Okay, where now?" Jodie asked.

" _There will be a fork in the path coming up,_ " said the voice. " _By now, I imagine they will be after you._ "

Jodie glanced back, seeing nobody. However, she heard the echos of footsteps a relatively long way away. "I think they are..."

" _Good,_ " said the voice. " _Go_ _left at the fork. You'll have to cross the waters of the sewers._ "

She nodded, before looking ahead to spot a point where the small corridor widened. Right as it did, she saw the fork that the person had mentioned. She growled, too, seeing that the only way across was to wade through the sewer water. She breathed in, looking behind her to hear the footsteps slowly approaching.

Jodie frowned, before looking over at Sa'lem. "You first," she whispered. "We need to go in the water."

Sa'lem cringed, but before he could say anything, Liara nodded. "Well, I have been in worse conditions," she said, slipping into the water and wading across quickly.

The tolahña sighed, before then sitting on the edge and slowly entering the water. "You know, one time, I told my trusted manservant I would rather swim in the excrement left by the guys in charge than deal with the law enforcement," he said. "I  _didn't_ mean it  _literally_!"

Jodie shook her head, following Sa'lem's lead as he waded across the water. "Be quiet, keep moving," she whispered.

By this time, Liara had pulled herself up onto the pathway on the other side of the fork. She took a moment to catch her breath, before leaning forward and grabbing Sa'lem's wrist as he approached. She pulled him up as best she could, but then paused as they heard the footsteps of their pursuers approach. As Sa'lem finally climbed out of the water, both their attentions turned to Jodie, who had just managed to wade through the water.

She approached them, and then turned her head at the quickly approaching footsteps. Liara and Sa'lem were both quick on the draw, and they grabbed Jodie's wrists simultaneously. They both hoisted Jodie out of the water, all three of them taking a moment to collect themselves.

And then, all three of them looked on as the footsteps approached ever faster. Jodie quickly stood up, grabbing Sa'lem and Liara's wrists, before taking off down the way.

As soon as they moved, however, they heard a voice shout out. Jodie saw the flash of lights turning to them, and immediately her heart rate picked up.

"Come on!" Jodie shouted, grabbing them and sprinting away as fast as she could. She heard loud splashes behind her, but paid only the bare minimum of attention as she ran away.

She then brought her finger up, rushing along the path. "We went where you told us to, but they sighted us!" she whispered.

" _Hm..._ " The voice paused. " _Keep going. You will find an intersection soon. Take the left path. Eventually, you will find a ladder. Climb it, and quickly_."

Jodie nodded, looking ahead as they continued to run down the corridor. They looked back once, seeing the lights light up the sewer. Just in case, Aiden instinctively hovered around Jodie, ready to erect his shield at a moment's notice. Both their footsteps rung out in the confined space, but Jodie could not hear that over the hammering of her heart.

She then turned, seeing the ladder that the voice had mentioned. She could also faintly make out the light above: the manhole cover had been removed, she deduced, and this was confirmed by Aiden's trill of surprise.

 _Someone's up there?_  Jodie asked. At Aiden's click in the affirmative, Jodie nodded.  _Here's hoping he's friendly._

Jodie and the other two approached the ladder, Liara climbing it first. "Go, go!" Jodie whispered, immediately goading Sa'lem to climb the ladder quickly. She then turned back just in time to see the flashlights flash at the corridor. As soon as she saw this, Jodie cringed, pushing Sa'lem to go faster before she herself began to climb the ladder. As she did, she moved quickly, her hands and feet climbing up the rungs in practiced motions.

What she was not expecting was to be hoisted up as she neared the top. This caught her off guard, but she dared not protest. When she was above the manhole, she then watched as Aiden clicked repeatedly. After a second, Jodie watched as the manhole cover slid over the manhole, their pursuers screaming as they approached the manhole.

Their cries were muffled somewhat as the manhole cover slid in place. And it was then that Jodie turned to face her savior.

She was greeted by the sight of a woman. Her eyes glowed green, and the orange curls of her hair seemed to stand out. Something about her seemed almost too perfect, but Jodie had no time to process anything else.

"You certainly climbed it quickly," said this mysterious woman. And in this voice, Jodie recognized the person who had spoken into her ear to bring her there.

"You..." Jodie frowned. "I expected something different."

"As do most," the woman replied, looking at the manhole. "Come on, we don't have much time."

This stranger then rushed forward, Jodie only then noticing the alley was wide and expansive. Jodie then looked at the transport that laid at the far end, the transport door open. It looked older than Jodie had seen any of the other transports, and it was also quite a good deal smaller than the transport she had barged into earlier. Jodie watched as their savior rushed into it, turning back to look at them.

Jodie wasted no time, rushing right into the transport. Sa'lem and Liara followed right behind them, and they all entered the transport rapidly. As soon as they did this, the door closed behind them, their savior rushing over to what looked like a small cockpit.

"As soon as the doors close, activate the stealth systems!" she barked. "And make sure the thermal blocking is done right!"

"Yes, ma'am!" the pilot shouted back. "Let's just hope they close  _properly_!"

"Yes,  _let's_ ," their savior replied.

Jodie turned back to the door as it slowly closed. As the slit narrowed, Jodie saw the manhole cover budge a little. Her heart swelled in panic for just a second, especially as she saw the doors rock a little bit.

Just as she saw the manhole cover move, the door closed. A few seconds later, Jodie heard a voice shout out an order on the other side.

Jodie paused, her blood running a little cold as she waited. She saw no windows in her little transport, but as opposed to that she moved closer to the bulkhead. She leaned her ear against it, hearing the voices and faintly hearing footsteps as the people searched the area. Aiden chirped, Jodie nodding as she clenched her hands into fists. Nobody said anything, all eyes remaining right at the door.

And then, after what felt like hours, Jodie finally heard the people outside say something. Jodie blinked, but before long, Aiden gurgled. Jodie then frowned, but before she could say much else, she heard the footsteps diminish. And after a while, there was silence from outside.

Aiden trilled softly, to which Jodie nodded. "Aiden says they're gone," Jodie stated.

"I can confirm that, ma'am," the pilot said. "There are no heat signatures around the vessel."

Their orange-haired savior sighed, leaning against the bulkhead. "And that, my friend, is what humans would call a close shave," she said. She then stood up, walking to the pilot.

"Take us back to base. It's best to get out of here before they realize what's happened."

"You got it, ma'am!"

And with this, Jodie felt the floor rumble underneath them. It was only temporary, though, for then Jodie felt the craft stabilize, and through what little she could see from the pilot's window, the craft they occupied was in motion.

* * *

Karshia frowned, bringing a hand up to her ear. "What the hell do you mean, you can't find them?"

" _I mean exactly that, ma'am,_ " said the praetorin on the other end. " _We followed her trail, and she just... she vanished._ "

Karshia growled, before kicking a nearby piece of garbage. "Dammit!" She angrily cried out. "This is three people we're talking about here!  _Three!_  How did they manage to get out of our grasp like that!?"

" _I don't know, ma'am,_ " said the grunt on the other end of the line. " _But however they did it, they had assistance. Likely from Punargathana remembering they needed saving._ "

"That's not an excuse, private!" Karshia replied. "We still had them!" She shook her head angrily, before sitting down on a nearby bench. "Search the area. We may still be able to find those Punargathana goons that helped them get away."

" _Yes, ma'am,_ " the soldier replied.

The comm link was cut, and then Karshia shook her head. Her big claw still ached from when the spirit-touched had stepped down on it with all her might. Karshia had not expected such a tiny person to be able to hurt her claw that badly, but there it was. She shook her head, looking down at the floor.

"Damn," she said to herself. "That girl is good..."

She then sighed, looking up at the sky of the Obschesto. The praetorin leaned back, tapping her hands against her knees.

 _At least she kept Sa'lem safe..._  she thought. She sighed, her expression softening somewhat.  _If she came back for him, Sa'lem may be in good hands..._

She sighed, shaking her head as she closed her eyes.  _Oh, why couldn't he have just heeded our warnings?_

She heard a beeping on her mobile comm unit. She sighed, knowing it would be her father looking for a progress report. She leaned forward, her back forming a hunch as she answered the call.

" _Karshia._ " It was definitely her father. " _I saw the commotion on your suit camera. Do you have the prisoners?_ "

Karshia growled. "No, sir," she said. "We did not apprehend the prisoners."

* * *

Jodie sat back on the bench, relaxing into the bulkhead as she looked up at their savior. She stood, grasping a column in the bulkhead. Off to the side, Sa'lem laid on the bulkhead, Liara sitting across from him as they both looked to the pilot.

Their savior nodded. "Just so yo know, we expended two rockets, half of our stores of smoke grenades, three cells of fuel, and possibly three men as well," she said.

"Expended?" asked Jodie. "When you put it like that, it sounds clinical."

"I'm just making sure you know what the score is," she replied. "It was worth the risk to find you."

Jodie frowned. "Well, don't celebrate just yet," she said. She then leaned forward. "You still have to prove to me you're trustworthy."

The orange-haired woman frowned. "We just saved your life," she said.

"You'll have to do more than that to get my trust," Jodie replied. She then looked up at her. "You got what you wanted. The question is, are you going to use me to do your dirty work?"

"We're not using you for our 'dirty work'," the savior replied. "We recruited you. There's a difference."

"In past experience, they can be the same thing," said Jodie bitterly. She shook her head, standing up and looking at the orange-hared woman. "Perhaps I should make myself clear: you're not going to give me insufficient information that would mislead me on your goals, are you?"

Her orange-haired savior frowned. "Why in the name of the Obschesto would I do  _that_?" she asked. "It serves no practical purpose. It engenders mistrust in the men, and frankly, I find it is the exact same thing the ones in charge do. I'm above that. If I need something done, I will tell them it needs to be done." She then leaned forward. "Those three men I mentioned knew exactly what they were walking into. Including the fact that they risked capture, or worse. That is the kind of loyalty I inspire."

Jodie matched her frown, crossing her arms. "Then perhaps you may have a deal, after all," she said. "But don't double cross me on that. The first sign I see of you doing exactly that, I'm jumping ship. We clear?"

The savior simply nodded. "Absolutely," she said. She then leaned back, offering her hand to Jodie. "I shouldn't keep you in suspense. You may call me Kim."

Jodie's frown deepened. "Kim?" she asked, pointing at her glowing eyes. "That's an odd name for an exion."

"It's an adopted name," Kim replied. She paused, a scowl forming on her face. "Do  _not_ ask about my real name."

Jodie nodded, before reaching her hand forward and shaking it. "Never thought I'd see the day where I'd shake hands with an exion," she said.

Kim shrugged, her grip firm on Jodie's hand. "You must have lived an awfully sheltered life if  _I'm_ the first exion you've ever shaken hands with," she said.

"No," Jodie replied. "It's..." She paused. "Actually, my situation is  _quite_ different from what you might expect. And... you might find it difficult to believe."

Kim crossed her arms. "I've seen a lot of shit in my life," she said. "There's very little you can tell me that will top most of what I've seen."

Jodie chuckled, smiling at Kim ruefully. "You'll notice I haven't introduced myself yet," she said.

"I have," said Kim. "Why?"

"Because you won't believe me," she said. "At least, not at first." She looked up. "And it's also a very long story." She then looked over at the pilot. "Where are we going?"

"Back to base," Kim replied. "Why?"

Jodie nodded. "Hopefully, I'll have time to explain everything," she said. She then frowned. "But for now, I should introduce myself, I guess."

She then took a deep breath, Aiden gurgling softly.

"My name is Jodie Holmes," she said. "And if you recognize that name from the Normandy... yes, I am  _that_ Jodie Holmes."


	15. Chapter 15

"And here he is, sir."

Pravuil looked up, the aqueron still rubbing his wrists even several hours after he had been freed. There, at the door of the doctor's room, was Admiral Kalpalan himself. He carried himself proudly, though Pravuil could see just the slightest shift in his brow and the fact that his right foot was planted on the ground  _just_ too far to the left. The aqueron paused, pulling gently on his sleeve as he sat up in the medical chair of the room.

"Admiral." Pravuil bowed his head. "I thought the DGI would be here to brief me."

The admiral bowed his head. "They're otherwise occupied with trying to do damage control on the biggest espionage disaster we've had yet," he said. He paused, shaking his head. "Not that I blame you for it. If anything, your move to feed them information about Formula QII43 ended up helping bring in more of the people who breached into the Obschesto."

Pravuil sat up a little more. "Then there have been more arrests?" he asked.

"Not enough, unfortunately," said Admiral Kalpalan. "But it won't be long until the remaining arrests are made." He paused. "May I come in?"

Pravuil turned his head. "I thought admirals needed no permission to speak to their underlings, much less enter the room of one," he stated.

"Ah, but I am not a superior officer of yours," Admiral Kalpalan replied. "You still haven't answered my question."

"Ah, apologies," Pravuil said, leaning back in his chair and bowing his head. "Come in, admiral."

The praetorin turned to the exion nurse, before the nurse walked away. He then walked in, ducking under the door frame slightly to avoid hitting his head. As he entered, he pulled up another chair so that it was next to Pravuil. The admiral sat down, his expression softening.

"First of all, before I say anything else: how're you feeling?" he asked.

"Strange," said Pravuil. "I know I should be dead, and that I should have died several times over. And yet, I feel like Mother Providence herself has kept me safe. I know not why, but that feeling is..." Pravuil closed his eyes. "It is oddly comforting."

Admiral Kalpalan nodded. "They took away your poison pill, I guess," he said. "Why were you in the ship?"

"I was commanded by my commanding officer to incapacitate the people piloting their ship," he said. "It was a sound plan. Our exion had taken over their systems, and there were only two people on board. One of them was busy trying to get the exion out, and the other... You could tell he was a good fighter, but his training was not as good as mine. But somehow she had broken his control on the ship. I am not certain what happened, but she shocked me into unconsciousness. When I next woke up, they were discussing what to do. I moved to chew my poison pill, but they had discovered it while I was unconscious. I do not know where it is now, but I am sure it is in a place that nobody can access."

"Did they touch you in any way?" the admiral asked.

"They took away my translator," Pravuil replied.

"So they know our languages," said the admiral. He sighed. "Dammit. Should've known they'd do something like that."

"There is naught we can do of that, sir," Pravuil said. "But, if I may, nobody with access to that translator has left this galaxy yet. There is some small hope."

"Of course," said the admiral. "But other than that?"

Pravuil frowned. "No," he said.

"Not even to torture you?" asked Admiral Kalpalan.

"The first thing they said to me after they had taken my translator was about that," Pravuil replied. "They knew of the poison pill, of course, and they knew it meant any torture would be useless." He paused. "They gained much of their information from the as-... from Sura."

The admiral blinked. "Sura?" he asked.

Pravuil looked down. "That is her name, sir," he said. "They were very careful not to say their names, but I picked up some of them in conversations beyond the room they held me." He paused, looking up at the ceiling. "They underestimated my hearing, sometimes."

The admiral nodded. "I see," he said. "Do you know the names of the others?"

"Most of them, no," said Pravuil. "But I know some. The pilot, they called Valentine. The rest, I don't know. I am sorry."

"Valentine," said the admiral. "I see. The pilot was one of the ones we arrested when we first found your craft. He is already in our custody."

"Oh," said Pravuil. "Then perhaps you will be able to gain more answers."

"Of course," said Admiral Kalpalan. He nodded. "Is there anything else worth mentioning?"

Pravuil paused, looking down. To the admiral, he looked pensive, but Pravuil knew that there was still one piece he had not mentioned: that of the spirit-touched. He was never able to gather her name, and he knew from what the nurses were whispering when they spoke of current affairs that there had been a spirit-touched that had caused quite a bit of mayhem in the richer arm of the Obschesto. It had not taken Pravuil long to connect the dots: he knew that the human spirit-touched had gone there.

But at the same time, Pravuil felt his heart clench somewhat at the thought of saying this to Admiral Kalpalan. Strangely, it felt like some form of betrayal, which he knew was odd to think against someone who he had sworn no loyalty to. And yet, there it was: his heart jumped at the thought of betraying one who had shown him some amount of kindness. And then, another thought occurred to him, as well: this was obviously a human spirit-touched, he knew that. And he knew, too, how unbelievable it was: everyone knew that humans could never be spirit-touched, and yet he had seen one. But if he were to say it obliquely...

_Yes... Perhaps I could only feed him that information obliquely. Maybe frame her as an artician... Or say she came over... If she could, but then how would she have gotten to the other galaxy? They would be suspicious of a spirit touched that evaded their grasp, even if she is causing trouble and making them go through their records... And should I...?_

Pravuil swallowed. "No, sir," he replied. "There was nothing else."

"I see..." Admiral Kalpalan nodded, bowing his head. "Well, thank you." He then patted Pravuil's shoulder. "I was told by the DGI before I came here that, as of now, you are placed on leave."

Pravuil paused, looking at the admiral. "On leave?" he asked.

"Yes," said the admiral. "You have done quite a bit, and you have been through a lot. They feel you deserve a break."

"Ah." Pravuil bowed his head. "I see. Thank you."

Admiral Kalpalan patted Pravuil's shoulder. "Get out there and take a break, soldier," the admiral replied. "You've earned it."

And with this, the admiral stood up and left the room. Pravuil watched him leave, the praetorin's long tail curving behind him as he exited the room.

Pravuil felt a pang of guilt about his lie: it was the first time he had ever lied to a superior officer, and he immediately regretted lying. He also noted with some amount of shock how suddenly it came: he had been intending to tell Admiral Kalpalan that the spirit-touched wreaking havoc on the Obschesto was allied with the people on the ship, but when it came time to speak...

The aqueron shook his head. And that was when he felt a strange feeling of relief. He was not certain where it came from, but nevertheless he knew it was a feeling of relief. And this strange duality gave him reason to pause as the nurse walked back in.

"Well, everything seems fine," she replied, her glowing eyes looking directly at Pravuil. "Your vital signs are fine, and there are no truly serious injuries, apart from the bump to the head. And your captors seemed to do a good job of healing it by not making you move around too much. It actually spares us quite a bit of work, which is always a good thing." She then paused, turning Pravuil. "Is everything alright, sir?"

Pravuil nodded, his stoic expression returning. "Everything is fine, thank you," he said. "Am I to be released?"

"Soon," the nurse replied. She then smiled, touching his shoulder. "And the doctor is ordering lots of rest."

"Thank you," said Pravuil. "I will have much to think about."

"Rest is good for that, yes," she said. She then smiled. "Give us a few minutes, and the doctor will be back to release you officially."

Pravuil bowed his head, before settling back in his chair.

* * *

Kolyat didn't know how long he'd stayed hidden away in the configuration of pipes that he'd taken cover behind. All he knew was that somehow, it threw off whatever equipment they used when they followed him into the sewers of the Obschesto. He was not certain if they were truly gone for good or if they were still searching. Given what Jodie and others had told him before they entered the Obschesto, he had a feeling they were still looking.

Not that the drell planned to move from where he was. There was something about the close distance of everything that was safe. He felt safe in such a confined space. And it was the only safety he felt he could have from everything around him.

He hugged his knees closer to himself, shivering a little. Despite the safety he felt, it was a little chilly where he was. It seeped into him, and he breathed out as he hugged himself to maintain what little warmth he had in his body. He also hid his face away from everything, even despite the fact he was alone.

And every time he did, he thought back to the events of the past couple of days. How one missing datapad had been enough to launch him into  _this_. There he was, shivering in a place he didn't know surrounded by people he knew were probably out to get him, and he had no idea where the few people who were on his side even were, or even if any of them were still free.

And it was worse than that: every time Kolyat closed his eyes, he saw the face of the aqueron he shot and killed. Questions kept racing through his mind about that, and even with everything Ashley had told him nothing could prepare him for the amount of guilt he felt. The fact that he had to do it, the fact he knew nothing about the aqueron, the fact that he had even done it at all...

Kolyat whimpered, the only sound he'd made in a while. He had run out of tears to cry long before that point, but his eyes still shone in a combination of sorrow and fear. He glanced out, burying his face in his knees again.

 _I want my father..._  he thought to himself.  _I want him now..._

He squeezed his eyes, shivering in the cold air as he wondered when someone would call him to tell him everything would be alright.

* * *

Admiral Kalpalan bashed his fist against his desk.

"You failed to arrest them?" he shouted.

On the opposite side, Karshia cringed, even as she did her best to stand at attention. "Yes, sir," said Karshia. "Punargathana got involved. We had the spirit-touched within our grasp, but she and the two fugitives escaped with Punargathana's help."

Admiral Kalpalan growled, before sitting down at his desk. "For the spirits' sake..." he said. "Can  _anyone_ do anything around here? First it's the DGI fiasco that's lead those dwellers from the other galaxy here, now we can't even apprehend a spirit-touched without Punargathana getting involved!"

He stood up, beginning to pace around the room as Karshia stood back. "This is a fine mess we're in!" He held his hands behind his back, glaring at Karshia.

"Sir, we did everything correctly," said Karshia, feeling herself wither under her father's glare. "We kept comms monitoring up, we dampened her spirit, we had the spirit-touched deal with her, and we nearly had her when she escaped. We did everything as well as we could have."

"It wasn't enough!" The admiral turned, placing his hands on his head. "You should have shot her!"

"We need to take her in alive, sir," said Karshia. "You know we can't kill a spirit touched, there are few enough as it is already, sir!"

"Then shoot to wound and not kill!" The admiral turned on Karshia, the younger soldier jumping slightly as she pointed his finger in her face. "There was more you could have done, and nothing was done,  _ma'am_! And now who knows what Punargathana will do? They have their spirit-touched back!" He bared his teeth. "And now it has gotten worse, thanks to  _you_!"

And Karshia squeezed her eyes shut, feeling some of her father's spit land on her face. She braced herself, waiting for more, but before more could come she heard her father walk away from her. She then opened her eyes, seeing him shake his head, his hand laid on the desk close to where he had struck it. He finally sighed, before leaning back against the wall.

"We did what we could. si... father," Karshia replied. She bowed her head. "You know how Punargathana is. They can be slippy."

"I do indeed," said Sugrak, the older praetorin shifting his posture. "I apologize, Karshia. You don't know how much pressure is on me now. The men upstairs are at their wit's end with this dual fiasco. First it's whatever allowed the guys from the other galaxy to get this far, and then it's this with the spirit-touched. And I'm trapped in the middle of it."

"I don't envy you," Karshia replied. "It's been stressful, hasn't it?"

"Very much so." Sugrak closed his eyes. "I have much to think about."

Karshia stepped forward, gently placing her hand on Sugrak's shoulder. "It's alright," she said. "It's..." She sighed. "It hasn't been easy for me either."

Sugrak nodded, before gesturing Karshia to sit in the chair at the desk. "Arresting your close friends never is, I suppose," said Sugrak.

"No, it isn't," Karshia said as she sat down. "I've kept face in front of the men for morale's sake, but... Arresting Sa'lem felt  _wrong_."

"I understand," said Sugrak. He leaned forward, shaking his head. "This is a fine mess we're entangled in, isn't it?"

"And I have the feeling it's only going to get messier from here," Karshia replied. "What is right anymore?"

Sugrak shook his head. "Welcome to my world," he said. "I've found myself asking that for years."

Karshia nodded. She then sighed. "Well, that is all," she said. "If you want... I can go to Ru'val's home tonight, deliver this news."

"You can," said Sugrak. "It may make him happier, it may make him worry. Knowing him, it will be a mixture of both."

Karshia nodded, walking towards the door. "You take care of yourself, father," she said. "I mean that. Please, make sure you're in good health."

"Of course, Karshia," Sugrak replied. "You do the same."

Karshia gave her father a rueful smile. "I will," she said, her tone a little softer than usual.

And with this, the younger praetorin left the office, her arms a little tense and her gaze turned to the floor.

* * *

"So you came all the way here, just to get me out?"

"Well, that, and a few other things."

"Funny, that. Well, at least I won't be alone around here, anymore. You've got no idea how unsettling it is being the only turian in the whole galaxy."

"Probably not. But hey, it won't be that way for long."

Kasumi sat at the door to her cell. She was not sure how she was able to hear Xerxes across the hall from where she was, but she was not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Being silent for so long was just beginning to get to her, and the company was decently nice. Xerxes had certainly changed since the last time she had seen him: his outfit, while a little tattered from having been held captive so long, was rather high-class, and his face plates were far less gritty than she remembered.

Kasumi smiled. "Did I tell you you clean up nicely?" she asked.

Xerxes chuckled, leaning his head against the barrier of his enclosure. "No, actually," he said. "In fact, I don't think anyone has ever told me that."

"Well, most people don't know about your former occupation," she said. "I was actually surprised when you called. I thought you wanted out."

"Well... You know me," said Xerxes with a sigh. "I'm too kind for my own good."

"Apparently," said Kasumi. She then paused. "But you forget, there's no place I  _can't_ break out of."

"You might not want to say that so loudly," said Xerxes. "I'm sure you'd  _love_ to tempt them to stop you."

Kasumi flashed Xerxes a smirk, before she pulled her legs to her chest. "And that, my dear friend, is what I'm counting on," she replied. She then looked up, before sighing. "I'm just biding my time."

"And you're going to help me out, right?" asked Xerxes.

Kasumi snorted, grinning at Xerxes. "After all the heists you gave me information on?" she asked. "I'd have to be insane  _not_ to." She then looked up. "But then I've got to get everyone else out. I might just get myself and you out, and come back for everyone else."

"Even with increased security?" Xerxes asked.

"Hey, you know me," said Kasumi. "We'll figure something out."

"I hope so..." Xerxes pulled his own legs in. "I hope so..."

Kasumi sighed, looking up. "You think the others are okay?"

"Out there in the Obschesto?" Xerxes asked. He nodded. "They're probably fine. And if they're not... well, we'll find out soon enough."

Kasumi shook her head. "I don't know," she said. "I haven't seen Val or Legion since I got here. I'm a little worried."

"Hey, they'll be fine," said Xerxes. "I'm sure they are."

"I hope you're right," Kasumi said, her thoughts turning to the pilot and the geth.

* * *

Valentine sat at the familiar table again. By now, he had gotten used to the small room. It was surprisingly cozy, even if it did look too sterile for his liking. Nevertheless, he had some good thoughts there: it was, after all, where he got to talk to Admiral Kalpalan. It was the only thing that would break up the monotony of getting absolutely nobody to talk to; without the interrogation, he felt he would have gone mad from the isolation.

 _God, I can't believe I'm actually looking **forward**  to being interrogated_, Valentine thought wryly. He sighed, before looking over at the door.

After a few seconds, the admiral entered, looking directly at Valentine. The pilot noticed there was something odd about his expression, though, as if it were a little more dismayed than it was before. He then watched as the admiral sat in front of Valentine, his hands bunched into fists.

"Oh dear," said Valentine. "Are those guys who you had physically torturing me picketing for my head again? I told you, that is exceedingly bad form."

The admiral shook his head. "No, actually," he said. "But a lot has happened,  _Valentine_."

Valentine jumped at the mention of his name, his eyes widening in surprise. He then sighed, shaking his head. "Well, there goes the anonymity," he said.

"So it  _is_ your name, then," said the admiral.

"Well, no use hiding  _that_ much," Valentine replied, gesturing with his bound hands. "My name is Valentine." His mind raced, possibilities coming to mind as he began to imagine possible questions from Admiral Kalpalan. "How the hell did you find out?"

"Turns out there were more people on the ship than we thought," said the admiral. He leaned forward. "We arrested your asari friend inside the ship this morning. Your aqueron friend that you took prisoner was also in there."

Valentine nodded grimly, his hands tensing a little bit. "Oh." He paused. "Well, you found the smuggling compartments."

"So that was where they were," said the admiral. "Well, it's created a bigger mess than we anticipated. Some of your friends managed to break into the Obschesto."

Valentine frowned, looking up at the admiral. "Really?" he asked.

"Yes, really," he said. "And I'm sure you know how they broke in."

"Actually, no," said Valentine. "And I'm not kidding: if they managed to get into this place, they did it through some way that I don't know."

"Never mind that," said the admiral. "It won't matter soon anyway. We have one in our custody already, and the two we don't have will be in our custody soon."

"Shit," Valentine commented. He sighed. "Well, I guess it's no use beating around the bush: yeah, they never left the ship. If you look under the floorboards and hit some of them, you'll find the compartments. They were fitted with tech that can mess with thermal detection equipment."

"And how do I know you're not lying about that?" asked Kalpalan. "You lied about where they were."

"Hey, I didn't definitively say where they were," said Valentine.

"You said to scan the areas your ship was in," said Kalpalan.

"Technically, you could say your docking bay was an area it was in, too," Valentine said.

"You did not specify that much, though," said Kalpalan. He then leaned forward. "Spin it any way you want, the fact remains you left information out intentionally, thus, Valentine, it is a lie by omission. So that said, how can I trust that what you're saying is true?"

Valentine gulped, hoping that it wasn't visible to the admiral. He then leaned forward. "Well, I for one don't want to go back to that machine," he said. "Really, I don't think anything short of a really warped sexual fetish would be enough to get me back in that chair."

Kalpalan glared at the pilot, and then Valentine felt small. "Who are you working for?" he asked.

Valentine leaned forward. "Again, we're mercenaries," he said, tensing his foot to keep his body from telling anywhere else.

"Funny lot of mercenaries you are, recruiting C-SEC officers into your ranks," said Kalpalan. "She was in a standard C-SEC uniform, with arms you could only get from C-SEC requisitions.

 _Shit..._ Valentine paused, before immediately leaning forward. "Ex-C-SEC, actually," said Valentine. "She went rogue, you know, and she took her stuff with her. It's not unheard of for C-SEC officers to have had enough with their jobs and just up and leave. Most of us are just the rogue cast-offs of other governments. They don't want us, so why should we want them?"

And then, Valentine sat there, shaking his leg and hoping the admiral would bite into that. The admiral paused, glaring at Valentine. Valentine breathed in, making sure to regulate it. He could not freak out, he knew this. And he stared Admiral Kalpalan straight in the eye, not defiantly, but calmly, and hoped that he was not sweating bullets.

Finally, the admiral sighed. "It's not unusual," he said. He then leaned forward. "I guess we would know all about that."

Valentine paused, but said nothing more.  _How would he know that..._  "Okay," said Valentine. "Then we're clear on that."

"Yes," said the Admiral. "But if I find you lying about anything else, I may consider turning you back to the DGI. And as much as I disagree with their methods, they may be what will get information from you."

"Got it," said Valentine. He then paused, his toe twitching slightly.  _Jodie, come on and break me out already!_

"So," said the admiral. "Let's begin a new line of questioning: who are you getting this information for?"

* * *

Ashley pulled herself up from the manhole. As soon as she did, she closed it behind her, growling as she took a second to gather her bearings.

"Well, you're still in one piece, soldier," Ashley said to herself. "Now, what the hell do we do from here?"

She sighed, looking back at the manhole. It had been a hell of a journey: she had to hide from the other inhabitants of this galaxy, which actually turned out to be easier than she had thought it would be. She wondered briefly if their tech was even built to detect temperatures fluctuating behind some of the pipes in the sewers, but she knew not to press her luck in a time like this. The medigel, too, did wonders, though she knew that she would soon have to find a way to get the burn treated. It was only a band-aid, and a band-aid over a third-degree burn was not an optimal solution.

She did note that it would make for a rather interesting battle scar, though. And it was one she felt she could tell stories about all the time.

Ashley paused, aware that she had no idea where anybody else was. She was reluctant to call Kolyat, however, for she knew that especially after a time like that, they would be monitoring the airwaves like it was nobody's business. She wondered briefly if they had even managed to get away at all. She also thought about contacting Jodie, seeing if she and Liara were still free. But that was out of the question, too.

 _So here I am_ , she thought.  _A fugitive from a law I don't follow... I don't know where anyone else is, I don't know what the plan is... And I've got no options I can see._

The gunnery chief chuckled bitterly, sitting against the wall. "I better get a promotion after this," she whispered. "After everything I've been through, it's the least I deserve."

She then leaned back, looking at her armor. She then sighed, taking off a piece of the arm that had not been affected by the plasma shot from the other galaxy. She then sighed, reattaching it as she thought better of that plan.  _If they catch me, I'll have no way to defend myself,_  she thought.

Ashley simply sighed, placing her elbow on her knee. "Dammit..." She then stood up, walking away from the manhole. "Well, I guess I better find a house to hide in or something. I don't know what it'll do, but it's something."

And with this, she walked towards the exit of the alley.

* * *

Kalo'Veera was pushed right into the cell. The containment plastic closed right behind him, and after a few seconds he saw people turn and walk away. Kalo turned back, looking at the people that were posted around his cell.

The quarian sighed, before walking down to a cot on the other end. He sat down, moving his fingers as he did. His gaze turned towards the ceiling, and he leaned back against the wall.

"Damn..." he whispered.

He held his hands in front of him, before dropping them uselessly. His eyes closed, and he leaned forward.

His thoughts turned to the whirlwind that he had been pulled along with when he had agreed to help Jodie. He never thought in his wildest dreams that he could see most of the things that had happened during the whole mission, but being arrested and detained in another galaxy... He had always thought there was a chance of that happening, but he always pushed it aside.

 _I cannot be harmed without Jodie, right?_  he repeated to himself, before shaking his head.

He looked to his wrists. The cuffs on his wrists were still attached, which he found just a little bit strange. He paid no mind to that, though, instead thinking back to Jodie, and where she was.

Kalo sighed. "Of all the things..."

He shook his head, closing his eyes and bringing his knees close to his chest.  _Jodie... I know you're otherwise occupied,_  he thought.  _But if Aiden can hear me, please..._

_Help me..._

He shivered, thoughts of what they could do to him racing through his mind. The thoughts caused him to huddle into himself, and it was only then that he realized that his temperature controls were reading that he was in a somewhat cold room. His gaze turned to the floor, and he sighed softly.

And then, he heard a knock. "Quarian."

Kalo jolted where he sat, and then he turned his gaze up to the plastic containment. There, he saw one of the people with glowing eyes.  _Exions_ , he thought. The exion stood at attention, glowing orange eyes meeting his gaze directly.

Kalo slowly stood up, walking forward. "What... what do you want?" he asked.

"You," said the exion. "I am here to interrogate you. Who are you, and why did the Fleet send you here?"

* * *

"So he has not been arrested, yet?" asked Ru'val.

"No, sir," said Karshia. "He has not."

Ru'val let out a sigh of relief, sinking into his seat at the dinner table. Druvak stood by Ru'val's side, one of his hands gingerly placed on his master's shoulder. "That is a relief," said Ru'val. "Thank you, Karshia. I thought he would be arrested for sure."

"Well, his new spirit-touched friend came for him," Karshia replied. "And try as we might, she slipped away back to Punargathana with both him  _and_ the asari." She shook her head. "I'm pretty sure I'll still have orders to arrest him on sight, though."

Ru'val nodded, bowing his head. "Perhaps," he said. "But I want my son to be safe. Everything I have done is for his safety." He glanced around. "And even if he is not on the right side of the law... he is safe."

"For now," said Karshia. "Nothing lasts, sir. We are now working harder than ever to try to catch Punargathana. Now that they have a spirit-touched, we can't afford anything they might try."

"Still, even if it's but a moment..." Ru'val sighed, turning his glance over to a portrait that hung on the wall to his left. It was of a young woman, her arms held over her breast. Her bald head was held proudly, her gaze exuding warmth at Ru'val. "It is better than what happened..."

Karshia nodded, the praetorin seeing Druvak react in kind. "Well, I shall take my leave of you, sir," she said. "Stay out of trouble, yeah?"

"Of course," said Ru'val.

Karshia stood up, bowing to the older tolahña. "Then hopefully, I will return with better news," she said. "Good day."

And with this, Karshia turned, walking out of the room. A few seconds later, Ru'val sighed as he heard the door of his residence open and close.

Ru'val sighed, turning to Druvak. "Well, I am glad for that..." He then turned his gaze to the table. "But I still worry."

"If you would permit me, Master Ru'val, I could-"

"No, it's all right, Druvak," said Ru'val. He gently patted Druvak's arm, looking into his insectoid eyes sadly. "I doubt there is anything you could do." He then paused, patting Druvak's arm. "You may go home now. I am sure this has been a very stressful day for you so far."

"None so much as yours, Master Ru'val," the ra'ken replied. "Are you certain you will be alright, Master Ru'val? With everything happening around Young Master Sa'lem..."

Ru'val sighed. "I will be fine soon, Druvak," said Ru'val. "For now, I'm ordering you to get some rest. This has been a very stressful day."

Druvak bowed his head. "As you command, Master Ru'val," he said. He then patted Ru'val's shoulder. "I hope this situation clears up."

And with this, the ra'ken left the house. As his servant left, Ru'val could only look back to the portrait of the woman. He gave her a baleful smile, shaking his head as he looked back up.

"This is the world we live in, La'vel," he said sadly. "One where not even our own son is safe." He then leaned forward, placing his forearms on the table as he stared straight ahead at the opposite wall. "Sa'lem... Wherever you are, I hope you are safe..."

* * *

Jodie stepped off of the craft, her gaze being pulled by the bay around them. It was a rather small affair, full of much smaller vessels. Some looked rather worn down, and around one of them she saw a contingent of mechanics working on it. They paused as soon as she stepped out. They glanced at her curiously, Jodie noticing they were a collection of exions and a couple of aquerons. They glanced at her for a second, before she caught Kim nodding out of the corner of her eye. At this, they went right back to work.

Thus, Jodie followed Kim. Sa'lem and Liara stepped out of the craft not too long. Sa'lem rubbed one of his wrists as he followed Jodie.

"That's not going to stop the discomfort, you know," Kim said from ahead of them.

"I just... I can't stop with that, though," Sa'lem replied.

Kim turned. "Hey, don't worry about that feeling," she said. "It'll go away in an hour, you just have to let it be."

Sa'lem sighed, before letting his hands down. Jodie could see he still reached for his wrists, though. "Fine," he said.

Kim nodded, before turning away. "Good," she said. "You'll be alright." With this, she turned to Jodie as she walked down a walkway. "Well, this is it. We're a very small corps, but we've got enough space to host a secret base."

Jodie nodded, taking one last look at the small docking bay. "I can't imagine it is," she said. "I don't think even half the Normandy could fit in here."

"Well, that wouldn't surprise me," Kim said as she walked to a door. "And alas, we won't be expanding anytime soon. Try not to cry out loud."

"But you're trying not to be seen," said Jodie. "A big base would be counter-intuitive for that, wouldn't it?"

Kim smiled. "Good, you catch meaning." She then opened the door, gesturing into the room. "Welcome to Punargathana."

Jodie stepped in, looking around at the room. It was not a very large room, but there was still some amount of room for the holographic projection system in the center. She paused, however, looking in wonder at the holograms in the center of the room. Several people were walking around with datapads, and even as Jodie stepped inside, she noticed that several had been animatedly chatting amongst themselves. Jodie saw a couple of doors leading out of the room, noting that one of them was an elevator door.

As they stepped in, the conversations paused, all of them turning to Kim. She then stepped aside, gesturing to Jodie.

"We have the spirit-touched, ladies and gentlemen!" Kim said with a smile.

And at this, all activity stopped. At once, the other occupants of the room smiled, before then a few cheers rang out and the people around the holographic interface applauded. Faintly, she thought she could hear the mechanics in the bay behind her applaud as well, though she wondered how Kim was able to speak loudly enough for them to hear. But in that moment, she chuckled, and with a bit of an awkward step back she bowed to the applause.

Kim then turned to all of them. "Now, we have the spirit-touched we've been looking for, but that's only the beginning," she said. "We've got a  _lot_ to plan, and I mean a  _lot_. And we need to start by meeting with her alone, so I want this room vacated  _immediately_."

"Yes, ma'am!" the people around the hologram chorused.

As they began to file out, Kim then approached a younger-looking tolahña. "Send Wilson up here, please," he said. "He may be interested, and have some great input as well."

"Yes, ma'am," said the tolahña. He cast a glance over at Sa'lem, before turning and leaving the room.

In a few seconds, the room was vacant, all except for Jodie, Liara, Sa'lem, and Kim. Kim turned to the hologram, looking past it as she leaned against a bar that separated her from the holograms.

"So you're human, huh?" Kim asked.

"As I told you two other times, yes," Jodie replied.

"Still find it difficult to believe," said Kim. "I bet you've gotten the 'only articians are spirit-touched' spiel from that aqueron guy you had on your ship."

"That we did, yes," Jodie replied. She looked up. "And then we got it again from you."

"I apologize for that," Kim replied. "You just don't expect that from a human."

"I don't imagine most people would," said Liara. "Is it true that articians are the only kind of spirit-touched?"

"I thought it was," said Kim. She turned to Jodie. "At least, I thought so."

"Yeah, well, that isn't the only surprise you'll find as relates to spirit-touched," said Jodie. She frowned, leaning forward. "The artician I fought on the roof said something about Shepard being spirit-touched?"

"Yes," said Kim. "Technically, all articians have some link to the beyond, but a select few are in command of a spirit."

Jodie shook her head. "Well, I'm going to tell you now: someone on your propaganda machine has been lying to just about everyone," said Jodie. "I served with Shepard, and Aiden never saw anything that indicated he was a spirit-touched."

Kim shook her head. "We at Punargathana have known that for  _years_ ," she said. "Or at least, we've suspected it. We've hacked the guys upstairs numerous times about the one you call Shepard." She chuckled bitterly. "You know that the propaganda machine says his birth was heralded by a double rainbow?"

Liara leaned back. "A double-rainbow?" she asked. "That... that sounds ridiculous!"

"It's true, though," Sa'lem replied. "It's something we're told about him in school."

Jodie chuckled, faintly remembering one item of world news she had at least made an attempt to keep track of after she went on the run from the CIA. "I can believe it," she said. "So you know he's not spirit-touched."

"We suspect," said Kim. "There's a difference. Something about him just doesn't seem to match what we would think of a spirit-touched. But, we don't have enough information, and not even the upstairs propaganda machine would be able to make everyone believe a lie like that. There has to be  _something_ they're doing that is putting the other spirit-touched in line."

Jodie frowned. "I guess... It could tie into the reason why I'm here," she said, leaning forward. "Do articians normally have abilities if they're not spirit-touched?"

Kim frowned. "No," she said. "Why?"

"Because that's relevant to something I saw Shepard do," Jodie replied. "And it's the whole reason I'm here." She clasped her hands together. "It's weird. I know the propaganda machine is lying, but it feels like a lie of omission more than an outright lie the more I think about it."

"Hm." Kim tapped her chin. "There is  _one_ possibility that leaps out at me, if you're telling me this." She then tilted her head to the side, her eyes glowing just a little brighter. "What did you see him do?"

Jodie looked down. "I... I saw him do something strange to a prisoner," she said. "He... He looked directly in this prisoner's eyes, and when he did, I saw this red light connect their eyes briefly. And he talked about-"

"The Reckoning..." Kim's voice was suddenly hushed, and her jaw hung open slightly. "He can do the Reckoning..."

"The Reckoning?" Liara asked.

Kim opened her mouth to reply, but before she could, the elevator door opened. Everyone turned to the elevator, seeing an older man step out. His bald spot glistened like porcelain, and Jodie could tell from his limp that something was wrong with his leg. He shuffled forward, his footsteps and his form showing signs of rapid aging that made him look older than Jodie suspected he truly was. He approached the holographic interface, tired blue eyes looking at everyone around the room. He wore a simple black jumpsuit, and Jodie faintly noticed it was similar to what the others had been wearing before.

Kim shook her head. "We will talk about this later," she said. She then turned to the human. "For now, I have someone to introduce you to. Jodie Holmes, this is Trent Ishmael Wilson. Until you and your friends came in, he was the only human living in this galaxy."

Jodie frowned. "You're human?" she asked, stepping forward.

"You got that right," Wilson replied, stepping forward and holding his hand out to Jodie. "And what the hell do you mean, until now I was the only human here?"

Jodie grasped his hand, shaking it. "Because you're no longer the only one," she said. "There are two in custody, one who is...  _somewhere_ on the Obschesto..." She then paused. "And you're talking to another one."

Wilson frowned. "Wait, what?" he asked. "I thought humans couldn't be spirit-touched."

"So did I," said Kim. "But she's human all right."

"Huh." Wilson shook his head. "Damn, in all my thirty years here, I never thought I'd see something like this."

"Thirty years?" Jodie stepped forward.  _Then that means he's with Cerberus..._

"Thirty years, and you're human..." Sa'lem paused, his face scrunching up in fury. "Then... then you're responsible for what happened!" he shouted, pointing a finger at Wilson.

"Kid, please, don't point fingers," said Kim. "He's been through a lot."

"Sure," said Sa'lem. "Because being one of the people behind the Great Purge is very much forgivable!"

Jodie blinked. "The Great..." she whispered.

"We were only following orders," said Wilson. "The only thing we did wrong was to jump in without enough information."

"You were responsible for the Great Purge, and that's all you can say?" Sa'lem asked incredulously. "No apology, nothing! Not even something as much as an 'I'm sorry'!"

Wilson looked down. "You don't understand," said Wilson. "It is so much more complicated than you-"

"That's a lie and you know it!" said Sa'lem as he approached Wilson. "Spirits, do you even feel any remorse for what you did? Because I'm not sure you do."

Kim stepped between Wilson and Sa'lem. "Calm down," she said. "He's been through a lot."

"Sure," said Sa'lem sarcastically. "He kills all those people, and  _he's_ the one who's been through a lot. How do you sleep soundly at night?"

Wilson frowned, and Jodie sensed an air of anger that made her blood run cold. "You assume I do, boy?" asked Wilson, his voice filled with barely-contained rage. "I've spent thirty years of sleepless nights thinking about what we could have done differently. I've spent thirty years on the run, thinking back to that moment. And I've spent thirty fucking years, wishing I could take back every minute of that Goddamn day that I can, wishing I could just take back that mistake!"

"And you think 'we jumped in without enough information' is going to cut it?" Sa'lem asked, leaning in his face. "I wasn't even  _alive_ for that, and-"

And then, Jodie stepped forward. "Stop!" she shouted, stepping between the two of them. "This isn't the time for that. We've got a lot of people to worry about, we can't think about this right now."

Sa'lem huffed. "Jodie, really?" he asked. "We have one of the people responsible right here, and you don't want to see him explain himself?"

"I still don't even know what it  _is_!" Jodie replied. "I get that it must be something that killed people and that Cerberus was responsible, but what are the details?"

Wilson frowned. "Wait, you're a human," he said. "And you're here. That means you're with Cerberus, doesn't it?"

Jodie shook her head. "I'm not," she replied. She then turned to Kim. "This is part of the reason I'm here. We found out this galaxy existed through a slip in their intelligence, and we have no idea why they are in there or what they want. All we know is that it has to do with the Great Purge, and that's it. We don't even know what it is!"

Wilson leaned forward. "Wait, so if you're not Cerberus, then who are you with?" asked Wilson.

Jodie frowned, turning to Wilson. "First, I need to know what this Great Purge is," she said. "I promise I will tell you who I'm working for, but I need to know what the Great Purge is, how Cerberus fits into it, how it relates to our galaxy, and why you would go to such lengths." She stepped forward, giving Wilson a pleading look. "Please. I'm trying to help."

Wilson turned, looking back at the hologram. His expression softened immediately, and he took in a shaky breath as he held his heart to his hand. "I haven't had to talk about the Great Purge in ten years..." he whispered. "It happened so long ago, but... the scars are still fresh." He looked back to Jodie as Liara walked around to stand behind her. "This is common knowledge in this galaxy. For some reason, your galaxy hasn't been told yet."

Sa'lem frowned. "Wait, so they really  _aren't_ aware of what happened," he said.

"I don't know," said Wilson. "But if I know the Illusive Man, he never said a word. He would never admit that his actions were a failure, even if he knew it was true." He shook his head. "You want to know the truth?"

Jodie nodded. "Yes," she said. "It may help us find a solution."

Wilson shook his head. "We've been looking for a solution for decades," he said. "And we have not found one yet. But... if you can help us..."

Wilson sighed, his gaze turning to the other side of the room. He seemed to look past the holograms, and in response Jodie and Liara settled in, Sa'lem and Kim taking a step back.

"It was just after the First Contact War," Wilson said. "Cerberus had just been formed, and I'd joined the rallying call. A lot of us did, after what those damned turians did to us." He chuckled bitterly. "I thought we'd be going out there to do humanity right, after all the shit the Alliance did to suck up to those Councillors. I was young and stupid back then." He shook his head, letting out a long sigh. "We were out patrolling systems, looking for a location to start up a project. We were out in the Armstrong Nebula: it was a quiet place. Full of slavers, to be sure, but a small black ops operation would have no problem being detected there." He paused. "That was when we first encountered the wormhole."

Jodie nodded. "The wormhole to this galaxy," she said.

Wilson nodded. "We entered it by accident," he continued. "We hadn't even realized that we had crossed over into another galaxy until we were found by one of their patrol ships about four hours after we initially entered. And when we did..." He looked up. "Good Lord, it was wild. They'd never seen a human before, or even anything from another galaxy. It was... it was an exciting time. We knew immediately that we had to establish contacts."

"So they established contact with Cerberus," said Liara.

"We all thought Cerberus was an envoy for the real human authorities," said Kim. She then turned to Wilson. "We never thought to ask what kind of authority we were speaking to."

Sa'lem frowned. "Wait, you mean Cerberus  _isn't_ a branch of their military?" he asked.

"Well, it was, at least up until a point," Liara said. "The Alliance recently cut ties with them, and they've since been labelled a terrorist group."

Sa'lem's frown deepened, and he turned to Kim. "They didn't mention  _that_!" said Sa'lem.

"Of course they wouldn't," Kim replied. "That'd go against the propaganda machine." She then turned to Jodie. "Anyhow, we established contact with Cerberus, mistakenly assuming we were speaking to someone of a higher authority than they were."

"And nobody thought to tell this... Illusive Man to tell a higher authority?" asked Jodie.

"From how I understood it, the plan was to tell someone more important in the long run," said Wilson. "We simply wanted to play with their toys first."

Kim nodded. "We traded technology first, you see," she said. "We thought it interesting that they needed relays to jump to certain places instantaneously, so we traded technology. We limited what they had access to at first, of course."

Wilson nodded. "That was their first mistake," he said. "Because the Illusive Man wasn't satisfied."

Jodie frowned, her blood running cold. "I'm going to guess he didn't obey the terms of the agreement," she said.

"No," Wilson replied. "We took more technology than they asked for." He paused, looking down. "One particular technology they didn't let us look at that we looked at anyway? The medical nanobot network."

Jodie and Liara frowned. "Nanobot network?" Liara asked.

"Yeah." Sa'lem pushed off. "Back before the days of the Great Purge, there was a medical nanobot network. It was supposed to present a new age of medicine for this galaxy. And it did that, for over two centuries."

Wilson chuckled darkly. "That's what it did," he said. "And of course, why would we turn down the chance to see what  _that_ could do, right?" He snorted. "But strange things started happening to the guys in the labs when we tested variations of it on our own people. I still don't know what it was, but from what little I heard, it was bad."

Jodie frowned. "Nobody told you what was wrong?" she asked.

"I was just the guy who retrieved samples," Wilson replied. "Whatever it was that nanobot network did, it was above my pay grade to know." He shook his head. "We should've gotten more intel before we did what happened next, but... Orders were it was too important to not do."

"And what did you do?" asked Jodie.

Wilson closed his eyes, before drawing in a deep breath. "Me and a couple of guys had been given an OSD with a virus in it," he said. "The guys who gave it to us told us to feed it into a control center, and not to worry about what would happen. They said nothing would happen." He sighs, his hand tightening into a fist. "I don't know what happened, but the second we entered the virus... That was when all hell broke loose..."

Kim bowed her head. "Jodie, how many people do you think were killed in this Great Purge?" she asked.

"I don't know," said Jodie, feeling her blood freeze. "Um... hundreds?"

Kim shook her head. "As much as I wish the numbers from upstairs were fabricated, there is no exaggeration there," she said. She turned to Jodie and Liara. "Only a few people survived unaffected. If you were lucky, you were reduced to a vegetable. Nobody else survived with that small mercy."

Wilson squeezed his eyes shut. "Some died instantly," he said. "And by 'some', I mean the number of deaths that resulted from that were in the lower double-digit millions."

Liara and Jodie reeled back in shock. " _Millions?_ " Jodie asked. She leaned forward, Aiden's trill beginning to roll on quietly in the background. " _Millions_ were killed?"

"Initially," said Wilson. "The vast majority went insane. Some just hallucinated, but most of them? Most of them went axe crazy. And that set off a wave of violence inside this galaxy that ended up killing so many."

Liara brought a hand up to her mouth. "Goddess..." she whispered. She breathed in, Jodie noticing that her arm was shaking. "I... I had no idea..."

"Oh my God..." Jodie's eyes widened, and Aiden's trill slowed down as she covered her mouth with both of her hands.

Wilson nodded bitterly, opening his eyes as he teared up. "After that, it didn't take them long to connect the dots back to Cerberus," he said. "But by then, most of us had already retreated. By the time they started searching the galaxy for us, it was only me and a couple of other pockets." Wilson sniffled, leaning forward. "They didn't last long. I myself nearly got captured. So I went into hiding." Wilson shook his head.

"Oh my God..." Jodie dropped her hand, looking to Kim. "No  _wonder_ Shepard wants to see Cerberus burn so badly..."

"I imagine you've seen how he gets around them," said Kim.

"Yes," said Liara. "We saw that first-hand. We were sent on a mission to deal with some Cerberus outposts, and..." She shook her head. "I've never seen anyone in my life who was angrier."

"And that was one thing we needed to go to this galaxy to find out," she said. "Why all this. Knowing this..." Jodie frowned, and after a few seconds she turned to Kim. "We need to bring Cerberus to justice for this."

Sa'lem beamed. "Finally, someone's making  _sense_ on this damned Obschesto!" he said.

"You mean you don't trust upstairs to take care of business?" asked Kim.

"No, I'm just saying," said Sa'lem. "After hearing  _this_ apologist go on, it's nice to see someone say the  _right_ thing!" He then turned away. "Though I wonder why they've taken so long to deal with Cerberus. You'd think they'd have found a way in by now."

"Actually, kid, you'd be surprised," said Wilson. "The Illusive Man isn't all-powerful, but there is one thing he is. And that thing, is that he's smart."

Sa'lem stepped towards Wilson, his fist clenched as his four eyes narrowed. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.

"Lots of things," said Wilson. "For one, he's a head of a black ops organization. He'll know ways to knock people off his trail." He then looked at the tolahña directly. "And as much as I think they're doing this the wrong way, your DGI agents know that. By now, I'm sure they've probably infiltrated Cerberus' ranks, but they're being  _very_ careful. After all, one single misstep could undo  _years_  or even  _decades_ of careful espionage, and once you lose all that work you're back at square one.  _Anyone_ who has ever been in a black ops organization knows that."

"And you're here to oppose their efforts," Sa'lem stated.

"We're here because something doesn't make sense about how they approached all this," Wilson replied. "And we suspect there is more to their agenda than bringing Cerberus to justice."

Jodie paused. "And you think it would affect the other galaxy," she said.

"Catastrophically," said Kim. "The way they speak about all people in your other galaxy is very worrying. And I think there may be more at work than they are saying." She looked up. "Our plan is to uncover what upstairs wants, and to unveil that to the people."

"It's not a very good plan," Wilson admitted. "We know that. Rage is a powerful thing, and say what you will, the guys upstairs know how to exploit that. And right now, we've got an entire galaxy that's pissed off at your entire galaxy. So we doubt that they will listen to us no matter what we uncover." He then turned to the holograms. "But it's the best plan we have."

"And what the hell would you do if you  _did_ have a good plan?" asked Sa'lem.

"Go to the Council and tell them ourselves," said Kim.

Jodie and Liara looked at each other, before turning back to Kim. "The Council?" Jodie asked.

"The Council doesn't know jack shit about what happened between Cerberus and this galaxy," said Wilson. "The guys upstairs say otherwise, but I know better than that. Maybe that changed in the years, I don't know. But if the Council found out and they did something to take down Cerberus, it might get the two galaxies to get peace with each other."

Sa'lem's eyes widened in confusion. "So you want to take down Cerberus as much as we do?" he asked.

"Yes," said Kim. "We don't agree with upstairs' methods, but we agree Cerberus should be dismantled. Regardless of how it is framed, their actions killed millions of people. That can't go unanswered, and if it does it is a black mark against the ethics of all people in both galaxies."

"So that's what we'd do if we could," said Wilson. He shrugged. "But look at us. We don't have the resources to leave this galaxy. And even if we did, how the hell are we going to get an audience with the Council? For all I know, they'll just spit in our face and tell us to go our merry way. They won't listen to humans, not when we're so far behind in galactic affairs." He scoffed, turning away. "They'd never let humanity hear the end of it, the three of them."

"Four of them," Jodie corrected.

Wilson seized up, before turning back to Jodie. "Four?" he asked.

"Things have changed a  _lot_ since the last time you were home," Liara said. "Did you ever listen to what... the guys upstairs?" she asked. "Is that what they're called?"

"What they said about Shepard?" Kim stepped forward, crossing her arms. "We know to take all things they say about Shepard's exploits with a grain of salt. I have heard of what they say of his exploits in the galaxy. Saved the Council from Saren and the geth. They didn't say what else they did, apart from sending Shepard to the Terminus systems after that."

"Well, that part is true," said Jodie. "Did they mention the part where Shepard's actions ended up giving humanity a seat on the Council?"

Wilson immediately shot forward. "You're lying!" he said. "We've only been on the galactic scene for thirty years! How the  _hell_ have we already got a Council seat!?" He then began to pace around the room, his gait faster than it had been before. "That's impossible! It took the turians almost  _two centuries_ to get into the Council, how the  _hell_ did we get it in thirty years?"

"Shepard's little masquerade paid off," Jodie commented wryly.

"They didn't mention that at all," said Sa'lem.

"Probably because it could've painted our savior in a bad light," said Kim. "We can't have his actions shown to give humanity a leg up in the galaxy." She shook her head. "Kind of makes it strange, though. It could be used to prove to the skeptics that the Council is just as bad as we have said they are."

"So they  _are_ going after the Council," said Jodie.

"We haven't been able to confirm that," Kim replied as she walked to the other end of the hologram display. "But the tone that the propaganda takes is decidedly anti-Council."

Jodie turned to Liara, the asari nodding. "The way they spoke of the Council in interrogations was very negative," she said. "That wouldn't surprise me in the least."

Jodie paused, rubbing her chin softly. She looked up at Aiden.  _That's more credence to what we already thought was true,_ she thought.  _Looks like we were right to come here, after all._

Aiden chirped in the affirmative, before Jodie shifted her posture.  _So we've got Punargathana, and they'd want to tell the Council what would happen..._ She paused.  _Do you really think they'd make Cerberus a priority, Aiden?_

The entity gurgled rather long. Jodie nodded, turning back to Kim.  _You're right about that,_  she thought.  _Even if they don't, it can't hurt to try. We've come **this** far, after all..._

Jodie inhaled deeply. "I never told you why I was here," she observed.

"You didn't," Kim replied. "You only said you'd tell me when you felt you could."

Jodie nodded, bowing her head. "I can get you that audience with the Council."

Wilson's eyes narrowed. "You're shitting me," he said.

Jodie shook her head. "I served on the Normandy with Shepard," said Jodie. "Anyone who's followed that would know that. But what most don't know, is that I stumbled upon his use of the Reckoning against Balak." She turned to Kim. "I know what is, Shepard explained it in great detail to Balak." Aiden unleashed a nervous trill.

"I'll make sure I don't," said Kim.

"Thank you," Jodie replied. "I appreciate that." She then turned back to Wilson. "I spent a great deal of time wondering what to do about that. After Ilos, I was spurred to action: I told the top of the Alliance food chain. Captain David Anderson knows what I know about Shepard, and so does Admiral Stephen Hackett of the Fifth Fleet."

Wilson frowned. "The Alliance knows now..." He frowned. "So they know the story of what we did to this galaxy."

"No," said Jodie. "All anyone in that galaxy knows is that Shepard is a subterfuge master who is infiltrating humanity. They don't know what he wants, or why he wants it. Because of that, I was charged to come here by Anderson to seek answers about what this galaxy wanted." She then leaned forward. "It also transpired that Captain Anderson was elected to the human Councillor's chair. I'm supposed to report to Admiral Anderson as soon as I get back. With what I've discovered here, I have full confidence he'll get that audience with the Council you want."

Kim and Wilson looked at each other. "Then... Then we will have our goal..." Wilson said, his eyes bulging out.

Kim smiled, resting a hand on her cheek as her other hand propped her elbow up. "Indeed we would," she said. "But of course, you want something in return."

"Yes," said Jodie. She then stepped forward. "I didn't come here alone. The  _Lying Bastard_ had a crew of eight, including myself. When we first docked on the Obschesto, three of us were arrested. I don't know what has transpired in the time that I went to go rescue Sa'lem from that ship, but I'm assuming you know?"

"They got two more from that ship," Wilson said. "An asari and a quarian."

Jodie took in a steep breath, looking down at the floor as Aiden gurgled uncertainly. "Kalo..." she whispered. She paused for a second, before shaking her head and looking back up. "They still don't have the other two, then. Good. In addition to those... those  _five_ , there is also a friend of ours who is currently being held captive. The first condition, is that I want you to assist in breaking those six people out of the prison."

Wilson frowned, leaning forward. "That'd be suicide," he said.

"Yeah," said Sa'lem. "That tower is supposed to be impenetrable."

"They say that about everything," Jodie replied. "Trust me; I've been there, done that. There's a way in." She then looked up at Kim. "I'm not leaving this galaxy without them. That is my first condition."

Kim nodded, rubbing her chin. "Our resources are stretched thin," she said. "But so far, we have used our resources wisely. You're not wrong, there may be a way in."

Wilson chuckled. "I was afraid you'd say that," he said. "Leave it to the exions to plan practically."

Jodie nodded. "The other two that were with us are also elsewhere," she said. "I don't know where they are, but I'm not leaving without them either. The second condition, is that we find them, and get them to where they can be safe." She then turned to Wilson. "One of them is a drell civilian. We dragged him into this in the interest of his personal safety. I'm  _not_ leaving him here."

Kim nodded. "That should be no problem," she said. "We can find them very easily. Getting them out will be a little harder."

"Bring us along," Liara replied. "We can help convince them you're with us."

Kim nodded. "I assume the third condition is all of our intel that we have," she said. "That won't be an issue. In order to get the audience with the Council, we'd have to come with, no?"

Jodie nodded. "Very true," she said. "So that's condition three out of the way." She then glanced to the side. "And that is everything I can name."

Wilson nodded. "I thought you'd have more demands," he said.

Jodie frowned darkly. "I don't like being in the business of making demands of others," she said. "But in this case..."

"Sometimes, it must be done," said Kim. She nodded. "In exchange, we will be taken over there for our audience with the Council."

"We?" Wilson leaned towards Kim.

"You didn't think I'd leave you behind, did you?" said Kim.

"Well... Someone will have to look after Punargathana in your absence," Wilson pointed out.

Kim waved her hand dismissively. "Eva can handle that," she said. She then turned to Jodie. "We'll have to do a lot of work before we can fulfill all of your conditions. And we've got to get to work on that immediately."

Jodie nodded. "Of course," she said. "Take as much time as you need."

Kim bowed her head. "Trust me, we'll need a little time." She then gestured to the elevator shaft. "In the meantime, you can meet the rest of our little group. The mechanics are performing vehicle maintenance, so they will be out for a little more." She then turned to Wilson. "Would you be so kind as to show them there? Once you've started the introductions, I need you back here."

"Sure," he said. He then nodded to Jodie, Liara, and Sa'lem. "Right this way."

Kim nodded, before turning to the hologram. As Jodie walked off, she turned to Kim. She then watched as she nodded her head.

"Meeting's done, boys," Kim said. "But it's not over yet. Eva, get Lousev and La'lal. We've got business to discuss about future operations."


	16. Chapter 16

Druvak stepped into his home gently. The door closed behind him, Druvak hearing the mechanism squeak as it did its job. The thought occurred to him that he needed to see to maintaining the door, but this thought was dispelled as he entered his home.

It was quiet, unassuming, and sparsely decorated. Close by the door, there was only a kitchen table, and perhaps an older-style refrigerator. The house, in contrast to his place of employment, was a little unkempt, and indeed Druvak could see signs of a decaying spider web in the corner right by the refrigerator. He sighed, reminding himself to do some cleaning before he stepped in.

He glanced briefly at the door to his bedroom, before walking over to the refrigerator. As he opened the refrigerator door, however, he thought he heard the sound of something being knocked over.

Druvak paused, closing the refrigerator door, his antennae curving curiously as he heard the sound. He then sighed, shaking his head.

 _It must be one of the young ones again,_  he thought as he walked to the bedroom door and opened it.  _No matter. I will see him out, the way I usually do._

Druvak then entered the bedroom, glancing briefly at the circular pod in the center of the room before turning to the closet. His forelegs stepped forward, one particular hand turning to the closet controls and activating them. He tapped his fingers almost by muscle memory, and he then, he opened the closet door.

 _I must remember to put a combination on some day,_  he thought.  _It seems-_

And before Druvak could finish that thought, someone stepped out from the other side of the closet doors. Unlike the youth the ra'ken had expected, though, he saw someone point a gun straight at him. It looked like a female artician, though something about her seemed strange to him. The armor was not quite right, the gun was of a make and model he had never seen before, and there was something about her eyes that seemed a little small-ish to him. However, her visage was obscured in the darkness, and he could not make out much more than that.

"Hands in the air!" she shouted at him. "Don't make a single movement!"

Druvak obeyed as quickly as he could, the ra'ken's antennae also shooting up in shock. "Ah!" He leaned on his hind legs, feeling himself shrink under this woman's gaze. "What are you-?"

"I don't want to hurt you," she said, looking directly at him. "But if you do anything funny, I will be forced to shoot."

Druvak stepped back, looking at how the light shone into the bedroom from the main unit. "Do... Do you want something from me?"

"A lot of things," she replied, stepping into the light. "And I need them all-"

And then, the light shone on her face. It was a face Druvak immediately recognized, thought it was only one he had seen in reports broadcast all throughout the Obschesto.

"Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams?" Druvak asked, his antennae pulling back.

The woman paused, lowering her gun. "How the hell did you know who I am?" she asked.

"Well, you are rather well known," said Druvak as he bowed as best he could. "How could we not know one of the human crew members of the Normandy?"

Ashley paused, glancing down at the floor. "Of  _course_ they'd show that." She then lifted her gun back up, the light illuminating her left arm. "Now hands in the air! I need you to make-"

But Druvak's attention was already pulled towards Ashley's arm. "You're hurt," he said, indicating the burn marks on her arm.

Ashley frowned. "Yeah, so?" she asked. "I still have things to do."

Druvak paused, his antennae drooping slightly. "But such an injury cannot be left untreated, Madam Williams," he said. "Here, lower the weapon and allow me to inspect that."

Ashley then did a double-take, giving him a confused glance. "What?" she asked. "I... I don't..." She kept her gun trained. "You won't tell me what to do!"

"If you may, Madam Williams, I have some small items I can help treat it with," Druvak replied. "If you would allow me, I would be able to do what I could. It would not be enough to completely treat the injury, but it would tide you over until then."

"I have medigel, thank you," she said. "And if you don't know what that is, it will tide me over."

"Then at least let me dress it, Madam Williams," Druvak replied. "Please."

Ashley frowned, before lowering her weapon. "And why the hell do you keep calling me 'Madam Williams'?" she asked, her brows shifting unevenly in confusion.

"It is a gesture of respect, Madam Williams," said Druvak. "Here, come to the kitchen."

With this, he stepped into the kitchen. Ashley followed the ra'ken, her mouth now hanging open a little in confusion. She then shook her head, keeping her weapon out as she slowly followed him into the kitchen. She muttered something Druvak missed, and she turned one eye to the door as she stepped into the kitchen.

* * *

Jodie stepped into the lower level, Liara and Sa'lem following her rather quickly. She glanced around, noticing they had stepped off in a kind of common room. There were a couple of couches, all of them crowded around a holographic display. To the side, Jodie saw the counters of what looked like a rudimentary kitchen, with only the edges of what looked like a refrigerator. She looked around, before turning back to the holographic display, and three people that were sitting in front of it.

She glanced down at their hands, noticing they all held what looked like holographic video game controllers. And as she saw this, Jodie grinned. "They have time for video games?" she asked Wilson.

The old human nodded, looking over to them. "Don't mind them, they're our youngest recruits," he said. "They brought the thing with them." He shrugged. "We cut off their extraline pathway, though. They tried not to complain, but-

"Oh, mate! Mate, I'm on the overtake!" Jodie and Wilson both turned to a tolahña who was leaning forward on the couch. "Come on, swag lines, swag lines!"

"No! No no no no no, Vi'ram, mess up!" shouted a lanky-looking artician. "Mess up! Please, don't-" He then nearly slammed his controller on his knee, before turning to an aqueron sitting right next to him. "No, Jile, you fucked me!"

"Oi, Jile's on a mission!" the tolahña replied. "He's on a mission, boys!"

"Come on! Yes, I might actually not get last!" the aqueron changed as he leaned forward. Jodie turned to the holographic projection, seeing that they were playing a vehicle race in hovercars as she stepped a little closer. "Come on! Come on!"

"Oi, boys, I see the finish!" the tolahña replied. "I see the finish! I see the-"

And then, Jodie watched as, in one corner of the screen, one of the hovercars nudged another out of the way. This caused a car to spin out of control, much to the tolahña's shock.

"No!"

"Yes, boys!" the aqueron shouted as he jumped up.

And then, Jodie heard a high-pitched sound effect from the holographic projector.

The aqueron placed his controller down, leaning back. "And there we are, boys," he said. "Finally, I've won a race!"

"Oh, come on, third?" asked the artician. He sat back, placing his controller on the floor. "No, I almost had it, too!"

"Aw, mate, so close!" the tolahña leaned back. "I think I'm starting to get this map though."

Wilson groaned. "Don't tell me you boys found a way to play on an extraline connection!"

The three aliens turned to Wilson, all of them regarding Wilson with raised eyebrows or eye-ridges. After a second, the aqueron pressed a particular button on his controller, Jodie very clearly seeing a console menu appear on the screen. He then scrolled over to a menu icon she did not recognize, before he smiled reassuringly as he selected it. "Well, sir, you can see for yourself."

Wilson nodded, his shoulders releasing some tension. "You had me worried for a second there."

The artician nodded, running a hand through his bleach blonde hair. "Nah, we were just playing an old map," he said. "One of Zerk's old maps." He paused, sighing softly. "Feels weird to play it split screen, but it's still just as manic as we remembered it being."

The tolahña leaned forward, all four of his eyes looking at his two friends. "Hey, at least it wasn't moist wet waves again," he said.

The artician facepalmed. "I would've just given up there," he said. "I don't know why he  _ever_ had a fascination for that."

The aqueron nodded. "Well, he just wanted to see us suffer." He then paused, sighing almost wistfully before looking up at Wilson. He then turned his attention to Jodie, Liara, and Sa'lem. "So I imagine this is our famous spirit-touched, sir?"

"You got that right, Jile," Wilson replied. "Gents, this is Jodie Holmes. Jodie, these are three of Punargathana's newest recruits."

The artician stood up. "Wait, you're not  _that_ Jodie Holmes, are you?" he asked. "The one on the Normandy?"

"I am," Jodie said. "Yes, I know about the whole 'no human is spirit-touched'. Frankly, that's a load of bull. Aiden?"

The group then watched as the artician's controller levitated in the air. The artician paused, nodding. "Well, there you go, lads," he said.

"Very intriguing indeed," said the aqueron. "Sorry, we didn't think you would be here so fast."

"It's alright," said Jodie. She then turned to Wilson. "I think I've got it from here."

"They can introduce you to most everyone else," said Wilson. "They'll show you around." Wilson then turned to the three before him. "Take her anywhere you like."

The tolahña nodded. "You got that, sir," he said.

"Good." Wilson then pointed to Liara and Sa'lem. "Oh, and don't forget these two, either. They're also here."

And with this, Wilson turned back towards the elevator. Jodie watched him enter the elevator, before he turned back to the artician in front of her. "Well, I think this is the first time I've ever met resistance fighters that actually sit back and play."

The aqueron shrugged, standing up. "Oh, don't make any mistake about it, we still do what we need to," he said. "But sometimes, you have to unwind." He then looked to Liara and Sa'lem. "So those are the two most wanted fugitives for Upstairs. You don't think it'll lead them right to here?"

The tolahña stood up, bowing to Sa'lem. "Doesn't matter, Jile. Our boss is ready if that happens, so it won't matter anyway." He then turned to Sa'lem. "It is good to see another tolahña within Punargathana's walls. Sa'lem, was it? I'm Vi'ram."

Sa'lem bowed. "A pleasure," he said. "And who are the rest of these guys?"

"Oh, I'm Silman," said the artician, extending his hand out to Liara. "Most people call me the 'Minter', though."

"And I am Jile," the aqueron replied, bowing to Jodie and Liara. "I hope we can make you more comfortable in Punargathana."

"Thank you, we appreciate it," said Liara. "And you are the newest recruits?"

"Yep!" said Silman, pointing at himself. "I'm a bit of a vehicles expert. Jile specializes in hacking, and Vi'ram is the guy who knows everything."

"Well, almost everything, mate," said Vi'ram. He then turned to Sa'lem, nodding. "I definitely didn't think I'd see you here, man. Isn't your father worried?"

Sa'lem shrugged. "Honestly? I have no idea." He shook his head. "I wasn't arrested long enough to find out what he'd do about that." He then sighed. "But I think he might be. Usually when I run off, it doesn't lead to this."

"I bet he's sweating bullets right now," said Vi'ram. "I mean, it's not every day that a Parliament man's son is arrested by the guys upstairs."

Jodie and Liara both turned their heads in shock at Vi'ram. "Wait, what?" Liara asked.

Vi'ram, Jile, and Silman all turned to the two of them. Silman then nodded, stepping forward. "Ah, right, you're not from this galaxy," he said. "I guess you wouldn't know, then, that your friend Sa'lem is actually the son of one of the guys upstairs."

Jodie and Liara both turned to Sa'lem. "Is that true?" Jodie asked.

Sa'lem sighed. "Well, guys, thanks for spilling it before  _I_ could." He then nodded, turning to Liara and Jodie. "Yes, my father is a Parliament man. He's one of the guys upstairs."

Liara then looked back. "And nobody informed Kim of this?" she asked. "Shouldn't she be concerned about bringing someone so closely related to the guys upstairs?"

"I honestly wouldn't be worried," Jile replied. "The boss knows what's what around here; she wouldn't be a very good boss if she didn't." Jile then turned to Sa'lem. "Besides, from what I understand, Sa'lem's got a reputation for being quite the rascal."

"He's known for being  _very_ anti-establishment," Vi'ram replied. He shrugged. "Honestly, I'm kind of shocked the guys upstairs didn't do anything before now."

Sa'lem nodded. "It's all true, for the record," he said. He sighed, looking up at Jodie. "But you've seen that for yourself."

Jodie then frowned, turning to Sa'lem and placing her hands on his shoulders. "You're not worried Punargathana may use you against your father?" she asked.

"Whoah there, mate," said Vi'ram, stepping between the two of them. "Let's not jump to conclusions about that, yeah?"

"I'm just saying," said Jodie.

"Hey, the boss isn't that sneaky," Silman replied. "She's a boss, not a melt."

Sa'lem shook his head. "Honestly, even if she did, I wouldn't care," he replied. "It'd finally get father out from behind his desk to do  _something_." Sa'lem turned to Jodie. "You know how I told you that things needed to change? I've seen how they get at the top. They don't do a damn thing up in the top. And it's not going to come from anyone on the Parliament." Sa'lem frowned, looking at the floor. "And my father is one of those who doesn't do anything."

Jodie frowned. "And he knows it's wrong?" she asked.

"Well duh," said Sa'lem. "But he often just whines about his inability to do anything, instead of trying to do anything."

"Well, mate, they've got their ways," Jile replied.

"Yeah, that's what Druvak tells me too," Sa'lem shook his head, before walking past the three Punargathana men. "So if Kim uses my connection with him? I'm okay with that. It'll probably get him to get off his ass and do something."

And Jodie frowned. "That's no way to speak about your father," she said.

"I don't really care," said Sa'lem. "It's the truth."

Jodie sighed, shaking her head. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, Liara stepped forward. "Sometimes, it can be more complicated than that," the asari replied. "Have you ever let him explain himself to you?"

Sa'lem frowned. "No, but I don't see why that should matter," he said. "He won't do what's right. I feel like he's always taking the easy way out."

Liara glanced down at the ground, before shaking her head. "I thought the same thing about my mother, the Matriarch Benezia," she replied. "And that turned out to be untrue." She looked at Sa'lem. "Please, be more forgiving towards him. You never know the whole story, even if you think you do."

Sa'lem simply turned away. "You haven't had to live under that insanity for your whole life," he replied. "You wouldn't understand. I know he means what he says, but... He doesn't have the spine to do anything about it." He then shook his head, sighing. "Whatever. We'll worry about that when the plans are made." He then turned to Jile. "So how did you come to Punargathana?"

"Oh, that's a story all it's own," said Jile. He then shrugged. "But let's not worry about that, we got lots of other mates to introduce you to!"

"Yeah, mate!" said Vi'ram. "Let's introduce you, I'm sure they'll all like you!"

* * *

Ashley rotated her arm, testing the bandage out. She then nodded, turning her attention back to the ra'ken. "Not bad," she noted as she put her arm down. "Not bad for never having worked on a human arm before."

"It is quite similar to an artician's body, in many ways," Druvak replied, as he settled on the other side of the table. "The similarities seem much more than cosmetic in some areas, it seems."

"Yeah, figured as much." Ashley looked up, sighing. "Thanks, by the way. I didn't think you'd do that, but..."

"It is no issue," Druvak replied. He then turned, his antennae lifting up. "But I am curious now; what is the great Madam Williams doing here? I thought you were helping combat Cerberus in the other galaxy."

Ashley chuckled. "Is  _that_ what they're saying?" she asked.

"Yes," said Druvak. "Something to keep them occupied. I thought you were fighting them?"

"Well, we were at one time," said Ashley. "But that was  _not_ what we were doing over Alchera. We were patrolling for geth, actually."

"It was an unknown enemy that attacked," said Druvak. "Unknown to us, at least."

"Make that two of us." Ashley chuckled bitterly, leaning back and tapping her foot against the floor. "It wasn't that long ago, actually, but it was rough. We were attacked over Alchera."

"And that is where the Supreme Commander vanished," said Druvak. His antennae turned down. "Some people say he may have died."

"He did," Ashley replied. She leaned forward. "And he didn't exactly die fighting back, either. He died trying to save our pilot."

Druvak frowned. "We have not heard that one," he said.

"You wouldn't, not unless you were on the Normandy," Ashley replied. "Our pilot wouldn't leave the ship. Shepard had to go up there and get his ass out. He got his ass out, but from how the pilot described it, he was sucked out into space. Even if he had survived leaving the ship, he would've burned up entering Alchera's atmosphere." He looked up. "He is dead as can be... um..."

"Druvak," the ra'ken replied. "My name is Druvak."

Ashley nodded. "Well, now you know the story of the Commander's death," she said.

"Some are not certain if he is dead or not," the insect replied, tilting his head as his antennae followed suit. "But I suppose it is nice to know the whole story." He then turned to Ashley. "And what brings you here, Madam Williams?"

Ashley chuckled, waving her hand dismissively. "First of all, drop the 'Madam Williams', please," she said. "I feel like a grandmother every time you say it."

"But I-"

"Hey." Ashley held up her hand. "I don't care about all that 'respect' stuff. At least, not if you're outside of a chain of command. You're a civilian, titles don't apply. Just call me Ashley, or Ash."

Druvak bowed his head, his antennae drooping slightly. "As you wish, Ma-... Ashley," he replied.

Ashley sighed. "Not sure if I should tell you that just yet," she said. "It's a rather complicated story, and I may kind of be on the run from your guys in charge."

Druvak's antennae shot up, before they lowered and his mandibles tightened. "On the run?" he asked. "Pray tell, why would you be on the run from them, Ashley?"

"Because I'm here without their permission," said Ashley. She shrugged. "Technically, I'm not even supposed to know that Shepard isn't human. As far as most people back home-"

"Hold a second," Druvak stated, stepping towards Ashley as his mandibles tightened even further. "What do you mean, you are not supposed to know that?"

Ashley frowned in turn. "What are you saying?" she asked.

"The narrative we have been told is that you accepted the fact he was not human," said Druvak. "The crew of the Normandy was supposed to have accepted it all, no?"

Ashley's frown deepened. "No..." she said. "He only told three people on the crew of the Normandy. Tali, Garrus, and Dr. Chakwas. The rest of us found out separately." She then paused, looking down at the ground. "I'm not even sure if Wrex knows yet, and Kaidan didn't live long enough to find out the whole truth. But he hid who he was from the rest of us."

Druvak's antennae turned inward. "I see..." He frowned, his antennae stiffening as his mandibles tensed. "I always suspected the propaganda machine told lies, but... I never thought it would be to that extent." He turned to Ashley. "The greatest lies are based in a little truth, after all."

"You got that right," Ashley replied. She shook her head. "Still, I'm not sure I feel comfortable telling you what we're here for."

"Well, then I shall not press, Madam... um, Ashley." He paused. "I apologize. I am not so used to people telling me not to address them by titles."

"You'll get used to it," Ashley replied. She then tapped the table, shaking her head before standing up. "I don't even remember what I was doing in here."

"Hiding, I think," Druvak replied. "Perhaps you thought my home was uninhabited?"

"Yeah," Ashley replied. She then looked into the bedroom. "That's what you guys sleep in?"

"Yes, I'm afraid," Druvak replied. "We do not furnish it with much. Unlike even articians, we do not require much to settle in to sleep." The ra'ken paused. "Perhaps you should stay and rest for the day."

Ashley frowned. "That'll get you in trouble, though," she said. "If I stay too long, they'll track me here, and you'll get caught in the crossfire. I can't let that happen."

"Perhaps, but you look as if you have had a very long day," Druvak replied. "At some point, you will need to rest, I trust. And I can scarcely think of any rest better had than in a safe haven."

"That, or you'll just wait until they get here to arrest my ass," Ashley replied darkly.

"I am sure they can be convinced that this is all just a simple misunderstanding," Druvak replied.

"I don't think they can," Ashley replied. "I've already told you why." She sighed, looking at Druvak. "I can't afford to rest."

"Then when will you be able to?" Druvak asked as he stepped towards Ashley. "At some point, you will have to rest. And I assume you were hoping to hide in an uninhabited place to rest, is that it?"

"Yeah," said Ashley. "But that changes when there's someone in there."

"I hardly think that matters," Druvak replied. "Stay for the night. And when it passes, we can forget this ever happened."

The gunnery chief chuckled. "That's a lot of trust you're placing in someone you've never met," she said.

"It is trust in one who did so much to help the Supreme Commander," Druvak replied.

Ashley nodded. "I guess that's fair," she said. She then nodded, smiling. "I wish I knew more guys in this galaxy that were  _this_ welcoming."

Druvak nodded, before turning to his refrigerator. "There are many with a sense of kindness in this galaxy," Druvak replied. "You simply must know where to look." With this, he opened the door, turning back to Ashley. "I have been told you are a levo-amino species. Let me see what I have..."

* * *

"And that, mate, is Punargathana!"

Vi'ram stood back at the elevator doors. Jodie, Liara, and Sa'lem all leaned on the wall, looking over at Vi'ram, Jile, and Silman.

"That's all there is to it, really," Silman replied. "It isn't really a very big place."

"Well, again, it would be against the point of a rebel operation that works through guerrilla tactics," Jodie replied. "And you really keep that careful a track on everything."

"We have to, mate," said Jile. "I thought bein' part of this whole thing would be tough even before I got in."

"We weren't expecting how tough it actually was," said Vi'ram. "But that just means we gotta work for it."

Liara frowned. "I assume that means your talents weren't appreciated?" she asked.

"Well, Jile's talents were," said Silman. "But... It's common with a lot of people our age. We're not sure if the guys upstairs are doing the right thing."

"It's a thing we see a lot of, you know," said Jile. "Their superiors are still angry over the Great Purge."

Jodie sighed. "You know... I can't say I blame them," she said. "Hearing what the Great Purge was..."

"From how my father said it, nothing was the same after that," said Vi'ram. "We were too trusting, once."

"And now we're on the opposite end, where  _everyone_ there is a threat," said Sa'lem.

"Yeah," said Vi'ram. "Like that." He then looked to the side as the elevator doors opened. "Well, we won't keep you. If anything happens, we'll probably get to go on the operations with you."

"Yeah, I hope so," said Jodie. She then smiled. "You take care of yourselves."

"Hey, we're not leaving at different times!" said Jile. "We'll still be here after the meeting. It'll be a mess of meetings, but we'll be here."

"Very well then," said Liara. "We shall speak to you soon."

"Same here, mate," said Vi'ram.

With this, the artician bowed his head, before turning away and walking out. The other two followed suit, Jodie watching them leave. She then turned to the elevator, stepping onto it. Jodie and Sa'lem followed suit, and then the elevator doors closed behind them. Aiden chirped as they rode the elevator up to the meeting room, Jodie nodding.

 _Okay, good,_  she thought.  _Now let's see what this yields._

After a few seconds, the elevator stopped, and Jodie stepped out of the elevator. Her gaze turned to Kim, before it then fell on a tolahña and someone she did not recognize. The tolahña looked about Jodie's age, her bright grey eyes contrasting against extremely pale skin. The other person was artician, or human ( _how do you even tell them apart?_  Jodie thought for a second), and she too looked to be similar in age to Wilson. Her wrinkles showed, though her jet black hair covered her eyes as if it had not aged a day. Next to this woman, Wilson leaned against the holographic projector, looking up at her.

Kim nodded, stepping towards Jodie. "And here we are," she said. She then nodded to the two strangers. "La'lal, Eva, here is the spirit-touched."

"The human one," the tolahña stated. "Greetings. I am La'lal L'vel."

"And I'm Eva Coré," said the unfamiliar woman. "Just for the record, I'm human too."

Jodie chuckled. "So Punargathana has two humans, huh?" She turned to Wilson. "How do you explain that to newcomers?"

"DNA test, mostly," said Wilson. "There are very subtle differences between humans and articians, as you probably know by now. Articians aren't biotics, but humans don't have the ability to harness alpha energy."

Liara frowned. "Alpha energy?" she asked. "Is  _that_ why the commander's biotics are always green?"

"Yep," said Eva as she leaned back. "Actually, it's not even biotics, because the science is totally different. The artician homeworld had unusually high levels of radiation in an energy that we had never even heard of before. They call it something else that's too complicated for us to try to say. We call it 'alpha energy'."

"According to what we were told, nobody knows the origin of this energy," Wilson replied. "It's simply been on the planet since then, and as such the articians grew a node in their brains that allowed them to manipulate it."

"Since then, we've found that this energy can be used anywhere," Kim replied as she stepped forward. "They even found trace amounts of it in your galaxy when Shepard arrived. People were concerned there would be no alpha energy."

Jodie nodded. "Well, we're still able to use mass effect drives in here," Jodie replied. "So apparently, the laws of science aren't so different."

"Evidently not," La'lal replied. She then nodded. "But a proper DNA test can prove a human versus an artician. As for the exions, always look for the glowing eyes." She then shook her head. "But this meeting is not about that. There are other, much more important matters to discuss."

"There are," Liara said. She then stepped forward, looking at the holographic projection. "First, what are we going to do about Jodie's conditions?"

"Well, we are working on planning out the prison escape," said Kim. "We'll come up with something as fast as we can, it's just that we still need to gather information."

"About where they are within," Jodie said softly.

"No," said Kim. "We can always find that out when we get in. No, what we really need is the logistics inside. One of the things that makes it difficult to break into this prison is the fact that the way the place is guarded is constantly changing. As soon as we know what the configuration is inside, we'll have to make our plans quickly. And even then, very few of them are guaranteed to be a success."

"We'll have to see what happens," Eva said. "For now, though, there are the other two conditions." She then leaned forward. "Kim has all the intel we need stored on her drives. It's been stored there, and in a back-up elsewhere in the base."

Jodie frowned. "You make it sound like she's a computer," she said.

"Well, my friend, that's because I  _am_ a computer," said Kim, leaning forward as her eyes glowed a little brighter for just a second. "Trust me, I may be more than an artificial intelligence or an electronic entity or whatever the hell you want to call it, but I run on chips and not an organic brain. I know that fact, and lying to myself about that isn't going to help  _anyone_."

Jodie frowned, looking over at Kim. "It still feels weird," she said. "I mean, if it weren't for the glowing eyes, I'd find you all creepy."

"The glowing eyes were something our masters made to avoid the uncanny valley," said Kim. "Anyway, that isn't the point. I have all the intel I need on this chip. Certain other parties in your galaxy might be interested in it too, actually. Particularly the quarians."

"The quarians?" Liara asked. "Why would the quarians be interested?"

La'lal nodded. "On occasion, we have sent intelligence-gathering missions to the great science center on the aqueron ward," she said. "It is not a top-secret facility, but there is more that happens there than most on the Obschesto are aware."

"One of our missions uncovered data on an immunobooster in development for the quarian people," Kim replied. "From what the reports mentioned, they were considering its use to curry favor with the quarian people."

Jodie breathed in uncertainly. She glanced back to Sa'lem and Jodie, before leaning forward. "One of our group was a quarian on Pilgrimage," she said.

Liara turned to Jodie. "On Pilgrimage..." she said.

Sa'lem frowned. "What in the world is a Pilgrimage?" he asked.

"It's a sort of coming of age ritual where a young adult has to leave the Fleet and come back with something of value," Jodie replied. She then turned to Kim. "Are you sure that's correct?"

"The reports are stored in my data banks," she replied.

Liara then turned to Jodie. "If that's true, then it could prove Cerberus is not the only target," the asari said. "Such an action would undermine the authority of the Council!"

Jodie frowned. "Wait, though," she said. "Something's bothering me about all this..." She then paused, looking up at the others. "Shepard was in a relationship with a quarian on Pilgrimage when he died. Tali'Zorah."

"Yeah, we know that," said Sa'lem.

"Yeah," said Jodie. "From what Aiden told me, he used the cure on Tali, as I recall. What I want to know, is why he didn't just give her the formula then."

"It's likely Tali was going to be a test run, from what I read," said Wilson. "A cure would be useless if it didn't work, after all. From what I understand, it was a success." He then leaned forward. "Likely, they're hammering out a few kinks. And knowing Jon'ison Shardan, it's likely he told Tali'Zorah to expect them to send someone with the cure as soon as they could get someone."

"Either way, it's all very suspicious," said Liara. "This could confirm the Council's fears."

"That said, there might be a way to allay this galaxy's fears," said Kim. "Bring Cerberus to justice."

"Of course," said Jodie. "And what can we do about that?"

"We've intercepted a few reports from upstairs," said Kim. "They're very close to finding the Illusive Man's base. I could provide this intel to the Council. From there, the best diplomatic suggestion might be to make taking Cerberus out a priority. If the guys upstairs notice, it might help produce some common ground."

"Be prepared to tell them that it could backfire, though," said Wilson. "The samples of the propaganda we have on record state that the Council is complicit in what Cerberus did, and I'm pretty sure you've run into that attitude at least once by now. We don't know if it will backfire, but they should prepare for that possibility regardless."

"I'm sure they'll take whatever they can get to solve this with minimal bloodshed," Liara replied.

"Good." La'lal nodded. "That is the state of the intel. Now, about your friends in the Obschesto..."

"Ah, yes," said Jodie. "What about them?"

Wilson nodded, Kim stepping forward. As she came close to Jodie, she lifted a rather large-looking electronic component, setting it right next to Jodie. "This here is our locator," Kim said. "Pretty much anyone who does intel around here has this on them. If we latch on to a call long enough, we can pinpoint their location."

"So you can pinpoint Kolyat and Ashley, then," said Jodie. "And then we just go there and collect them."

"We'll have to be quick, though," said Kim. "And you'll have to let me do it. I can scramble the airwaves long enough that it can muddle their day, but even that will only get us so much time. And you have to tell them not to accept calls. We tell them to stay put, though, and it should be easy to find them."

Jodie nodded. "I think we should get to that, then," she said. "Besides, I know Ashley at least could help. No sense in waiting around, right?"

"Of course," said Kim. She then brought her hands to the device, Jodie watching as a holographic keyboard appeared. She brought her hands over it, her fingers flying over various commands. The exion's eyes dimmed after a few seconds, and Jodie nodded as Kim turned towards her.

"Now?" Jodie asked.

"Now," Kim replied.

Jodie nodded, opening her omni-tool and selecting Kolyat's information on her contacts.

* * *

Kolyat jumped as he heard his omni-tool sound. He immediately leaned forward, glancing out past his hiding space. He saw nobody was there, before turning back to his omni-tool.

 _I hope nobody heard that..._  he thought.  _That wouldn't..._

That was when he recognized the caller ID shown on his omni-tool.

Kolyat took a sharp breath in, answering the call and leaning forward. "Jodie?" Kolyat asked.

" _Kolyat! Oh thank God..._ " Jodie said. Kolyat felt his limbs relax just a little bit, though it was not enough to quell all his fears. " _I thought you were in danger._ "

"They're still looking for me, I know it," said the drell. He huddled further into the corner. "Sura called to tell Kalo something, and then before we knew it they were here, and..." Kolyat hugged his knees close. "Jodie, I killed someone."

Jodie was silent for a little bit longer. " _Oh..._ " Silence. " _Are you okay?_ "

"No..." Kolyat replied. "I'm scared, alone, and I can't stop thinking about that guy I killed. I know I'd be in jail if I hadn't, but..." Kolyat leaned forward, fresh tears rolling down his face. "Gods, Jodie, I just want to go home..."

" _Well, hang in there, Kolyat,_ " said Jodie. " _I'm with people that are going to help us. We're trying to figure out where you are. Don't move and we'll come for you._ "

Kolyat looked out. "You sure?" he asked.

" _I'm sure,_ " said Jodie. " _Just hang in there Kolyat, okay?_ "

The drell nodded, breathing in. "Okay..." He sighed. "Just, please tell me we're on our way out..."

" _Not yet,_ " said Jodie. " _But I have the feeling we'll be able to start planning our escape from this place soon._ "

Kolyat nodded. "Good." He frowned. "I can't leave this place soon enough."

" _Neither can most of us,_ " Jodie replied. " _Don't worry, Kolyat_ _._ " And then, Kolyat heard a loud beep from off of Jodie's microphone, before he heard voices saying things he could not make out. " _Ah, they've got a lock on your location. Good._ "

"So you're coming to get me, right?" asked Kolyat.

" _Yep,_ " said Jodie. " _Stay still, and we'll be right there, okay? And whatever you do,_ don't  _answer any calls, no matter who its' from._ "

"Got it," said Kolyat. "Please, come quickly."

" _We'll be there as soon as we can,_ " Jodie reassured him.

And with that, the call cut. Kolyat leaned back, his limbs releasing a tension he only then noticed was present. He nodded, closing his omni-tool. He briefly put it on silent, before wiping his tears from his eyes.

 _Well, at least it's not all lost..._  he thought.  _I just hope that they didn't get Ashley, too..._

* * *

Kalo sat in the center of the room, his hands bound to the table. He glanced up at the exions that were all around the room.

He felt a sense of uncertainty creep in right then. He was not sure if it was because of their glowing eyes or because they moved just a hair too mechanically, but either way, Kalo did not like being surrounded by so many synthetics. He found it unsettling, and while he could normally see just how much of Legion was a machine, these exion's skin and hair looked so organic he found himself disturbed at the sight of them.

One of the exions leaned a little closer to Kalo. The quarian instinctively flinched, turning his head slightly as his breath sped up.

"What do you want?" Kalo asked.

The exion shook his head. "We're only waiting for our lead scientist, bub," he said.

"Lead scientist?" Kalo blinked in shock. "So... this is an interrogation?"

"Only of sorts," said the exion. "See, we know you quarians have weakened immune systems. And the DGI guys tell us you know about the formula."

Kalo breathed in sharply. "So it is real, then," he said. "I thought for only a second it was not..."

"Oh, it's real all right," said the exion. "And let me tell you, we had to fly through quite a few hoops to start developing it. I'd tell you more, but that's confidential, and anyway it's above my pay grade so I don't know all the details. But it's real alright."

Kalo frowned, his gaze turning to the floor. "And how does this pertain to me?" he asked.

The exion nearby moved to open his mouth, but before he could, the door to the interrogation chamber opened. He then looked up, seeing an aging aqueron enter the room. Kalo's eyes widened a little, noticing the simple white garb covered by a white cloak. He held a clipboard, and pushed some glasses onto the ridge of his nose as he scanned Kalo slowly.

The aqueron nodded to the other exions in the room. "Thank you," he said. "It does indeed seem like a newer-era veil he wears." He then nodded to the others. "Come. We will lead him to the labs."

Kalo frowned, but before he could say anything he was pulled to his feet by the exions immediately flanking his seat. He was then led to the doorway, the quarian facing the aqueron.

"Hello," said the aqueron. "Pardon my tardiness, I had business to attend to back at the lab."

"The lab?" asked Kalo. "Is it about the formula?"

The doctor paused, and he nodded, glancing away. "Yes," he said. He then nodded to the exions. "I guess that saves me lots of explanation. Bring him to the transport, men: we have a laboratory to take him to."

* * *

Pravuil stepped out into a park, his hands in his coat's jacket. The air of the Obschesto felt warm, and for a second the aqueron wondered if it had always been so warm. It certainly felt different from anything he had seen since he had been captured over Alchera.

He sat down on a bench, looking to the park. It was a park he had always lived close to in the aqueron district of the Obschesto. It was unusually green, which was a rare sight on the Obschesto. He had always felt welcome there, even though it was quite a walk away from his home. It was a home he had almost never seen due to his work travelling for the DGI, but in this rare occasion where he had downtime this was the first place he thought to go.

The green was tranquil. It reminded him somewhat of the pictures of his homeworld, full of lush green gardens as far as the eye could see. But more than that, it gave him space to think, space to clear his mind.

And at the onslaught of thoughts he had ever since he had boarded the  _Lying Bastard_ , he knew he needed that space.

He could not help but ponder everything he had been through. All the things that the guys upstairs had said about everyone in the other galaxy seemed to ring more hollow. He had been warned before his first mission that they were ruthless enemies, and that death would be vastly preferable to what they had in store should he ever be captured. It was the least of the reasons for the poison pill to exist, but it was a reason nonetheless.

And yet, his captors had shown nothing but kindness to him. And this puzzled him. He had been forwarded a copy of the official DGI report which made mention of what was inside the  _Lying Bastard_ ; thus, he knew that, really, they hadn't the resources to torture him. Officially, they had no torture devices, but Pravuil knew it was much more complicated. His own training in the DGI had told him that anything could be used as a torture device, and indeed he saw many objects that he would have expected them to torture him with. And yet, there it was.

And there was also the matter of Sura. He never thought any denizen of that galaxy would be so approachable, but there she was. He still did not know her last name, but that did not matter so much to him. She was good company, a good conversation partner if nothing else. But there was something whenever she spoke about herself that Pravuil had grappled on to: he had noticed that there was not even a single degree of deception in her body language. She had been genuine with him.

He also realized something else: he had been curious about her. Not curious in an intelligence-gathering sense, but genuinely curious. This eternally threw him off guard, and he was surprised that he liked what he saw behind the supposed 'unfeeling monster'.

Pravuil sighed. The sinking feeling in the pit of his gut returned at full force, and he realized faintly it was not the same as the sinking feeling he felt when he was first captured. He leaned forward, turning his gaze to the green grass on the opposite side of the pavement.

He briefly wondered what would have happened if Sura had managed to get away. He would be dead, of course, but no agent of the DGI feared death. But perhaps Sura would have been free. Free from...

Pravuil felt his mouth turn dry, a rare phenomenon for an aqueron. He was not sure what exactly they were doing to Sura, but he knew what happened on the Tayurmya. He had considered it just before; after all, who went to the Tayurmya that was not justly punished?

_All except for her..._

Pravuil's blood ran cold. He shifted, before shaking his head and looking over at a ra'ken caretaker and the young aqueron charge he was playing with a few feet away. The child was happily leaping about, the ra'ken keeping its strangely-shaped eyes on the little aqueron. In the distance, he saw a pair of adults, looking on in adulation at the child's play.

The DGI agent stood up, taking a few slow steps away from the serene scene.  _It must be worth it, if it is to protect the helpless..._  he thought.  _We are simply doing this to defend our people._

He then sighed, the sinking feeling getting worse.

_Correct?_


	17. Chapter 17

Kalo was cuffed to a table rather quickly. He offered no resistance, but nevertheless he shot a baleful glance at the exions as they stepped back. He took the opportunity to glance around the room, seeing that there was not much in the way of security. He noticed a security camera in the corner, but that was about it. Kalo flexed his fingers, exhaling deeply as he turned his gaze straight ahead.

He thought back to the journey to this small room. He had been placed in a car with no windows, of course, and his view through the windshield had been obscured by a sheet directly attached to the back seats of the vehicle he had been transported in. It was a rather quiet trip, though the silence was almost more unbearable than when the exions spoke to him. He only heard hushed whispers, Kalo unable to capture the various fragments.

Nevertheless, Kalo went with it. And there he was, sitting and waiting for... he knew not what it was he waited for.

A door opened just behind him. He turned, seeing an aged human-looking man with stark white hair. This stranger bowed his head to the exions around Kalo, the quarian watching as the exions then exited the room. One exion looked at the old man, but the old man only nodded, giving him a thumbs up in reply. The exion promptly left the room, the doors closing behind him.

The older man then stepped forward, looking down at Kalo. The quarian wanted to say his face was kindly, but there was something insincere. He was not sure if it was the way his eyebrows quirked or the way his eyes seemed dim even for the lighting of the room, but Kalo noticed there was something off about this man.

"Hello," he said. "Can I have the pleasure of your name?"

Kalo frowned. "That depends," he said quietly. "I do not have a reason to give it to you."

"Not yet," the older man replied. He shifted his posture, one hand resting on the table. "I should introduce myself. I am Doctor Merath. I'm the main researcher here at the Imperial Research Labs."

"Imperial Research..." Kalo frowned. "So this is a state science center."

"Yes," said Doctor Merath. "Funded by the Shardan line themselves."

Kalo shifted. "I was not aware that there was a monarchy that still operated," Kalo replied.

The doctor nodded. "Not many from your galaxy would," he said. He then leaned forward. "But, it is fortuitous that you are here. You see... we have been watching your galaxy for many years."

"I believe I have gathered that much from what I have seen here," said Kalo. "But why am I here? Where are my friends?"

"Your friends are of no significance to us," said the doctor. "You are, however, given that you are a quarian." He then began to walk around the table. "Tell me, quarian, have you ever heard of Tali'Zorah?"

"The admiral's daughter, yes," said Kalo. "Why?"

"You know she is allied with our dear prince, yes?" the doctor asked. "They grew quite... close. But we have been watching the quarians for a while. We have seen their plight, Kalo." He turned, gazing at a point Kalo felt was just outside the room. "It is a sad plight. A people, forced to live on a fleet, never having a true home. We know of such a situation ourselves."

"Oh?" Kalo asked. "I doubt your people were nearly wiped out by genocidal machines."

"Electronic entities," said Doctor Merath. "Regardless, that does not change the fact that you have been ousted from your home, and forced to wear those... suits."

Kalo looked down at his hands. "What do you want?" he asked.

Doctor Merath turned away, before walking in front of the table Kalo was cuffed to. " _I_ do not want anything," he said. "However, the guys upstairs asked me to make you an offer." He then stepped back. "You are a lone quarian. I assume you are on Pilgrimage?"

"Yes," said Kalo. "Why?"

"We have a great Pilgrimage gift for you," the doctor said. He then leaned forward. "Though I believe you have heard of it."

"The formula..." Kalo leaned forward. "So it exists."

"Yes," said the doctor. "We would have given it to Tali'Zorah, but circumstances...  _changed_."

"Changed?" asked Kalo. "Changed how?"

"Tali'Zorah was... injured," the doctor said. "If not for Jon'ison Shardan's use of the cure on her at the opportune time, it would have resulted in her death. So alas, she had no physical sample to give to the Fleet." He then looked directly at Kalo. "However, we have another way. You."

Kalo frowned. "You wish for  _me_ to deliver this cure to my Fleet?" he asked. "After everything you have done to detain me?"

The doctor paused, smiling at Kalo. He knew it was meant to be friendly, but something was off about it as well. "I do not know what my superiors are thinking, myself," he said. "Though, I suppose I can see their reasoning. It will be difficult to speak to another quarian after this, we know, but... We want there to be no hard feelings. We wish to help Tali's people, with an alliance that will strengthen us both." He then leaned forward. "As a token of our good will, we have the formula ready for you."

He then pulled out a small grey pouch. It was sealed, the quarian frowning slightly as he leaned forward. "What is that?" he asked.

"The formula," said the doctor. "Nanomachines, mixed with various mutagens. The nanomachines are there to ensure the mutagens do what they're  _supposed_ to."

"So it is a controlled rewrite of our DNA..." said the quarian.

"Exactly," said the doctor. "At worst, you will only feel sore for a few days. But in time, you will feel healthy. And soon, you will be able to leave those suits." He then leaned forward. An alliance with the quarian people, in exchange for creating one of the greatest boons the quarians could ask for."

Kalo breathed in, looking up at the doctor. "And you are offering this with no strings attached," he said.

"No strings," Doctor Merath replied.

"And you expect me to abandon my friends," Kalo replied.

Doctor Merath frowned, before gently setting the pouch on the table. "Think about it," he began. "Your friends, or the well-being of your people? Isn't it true that, with a bolstered immune system, the quarians could settle anywhere in the galaxy? It would be a chance to rebuild, change their social stigma." He then leaned forward. "We may even have a few worlds your people can settle into. And we promise you, we will not scorn you the way the Council did."

Kalo paused. "That is true..." The quarian leaned back. "But I still do not understand why you did not just approach us with this directly. You know Tali, why not give it to her?"

"I told you why," said the doctor.

"That was not my question." Kalo leaned forward. "You could have sent the cure to her with an envoy, no? Why enlist me?"

"She is... busy," said Doctor Merath. "It is actually above my pay grade to know what it is she is doing, but she is on a very important mission."

Kalo leaned forward. "From the Fleet?" he asked.

"No," said Doctor Merath. "But it will have an impact on the Fleet."

And then Kalo frowned.  _What... that is treason!_  He breathed in.  _Why would the daughter of an admiral commit treason? This..._

The doctor leaned closer. "I know what you are thinking," he said. "But it is for the greater good of the quarian people for you to do this. What she is doing is for the greater good."

"To join forces with you..." said Kalo.

"Yes," said the doctor.

Kalo paused, his fingers twitching slightly. He glanced to the side, his shoulders tensing slightly. Thoughts began to race through his head.  _And Tali was alright with... there is no possible way! She would never do that, not willingly! She is an admiral's daughter, and..._

He shifted his posture.  _Something about all of this seems wrong,_  he thought.  _I do not like this one bit..._ He then looked up at the doctor.  _I wonder... Jodie knew they were hiding secrets, and I know that too. There is something he is not telling me. Why do they want...?_

And then, a thought occurred to him.  _They have kept many secrets from me, and they are keeping secrets from me even now,_  he thought.  _What would Jodie do if she knew that...?_

His hands tightened into fists.  _Keelah... I hope this works..._

Kalo then looked the doctor directly in the eye. "I will accept your offer," he said.

The doctor smiled, clasping his hands together. "Excellent!" he said. "We hoped you would-"

And then, Kalo lifted a single finger. "On one condition," he added.

"What condition?" the doctor asked as he leaned forward. "Name your condition, we will do everything to fulfill it!"

Kalo breathed in, his eyes narrowing as he stared at Doctor Merath. The quarian then exhaled harshly, and though he knew it would do nothing to quell his heart's rapid pounding he felt more prepared.

"You are to be  _completely_ transparent with me, and with the Fleet. You tell us how the cure's nanomachines work, you tell us your intentions with the Fleet, you tell us  _everything_. No secrets." He paused, staring the artician directly in the eyes. " _That_ , is my condition."

* * *

Pravuil strolled up the street. He cast a glance across the way, looking at the various pedestrians moving about their day. He simply continued walking, stopping by a vehicle.

The aqueron walked a little slower than usual. Normally, his step was a little on the brisk side when he was in a civilian setting. But at that moment, he was too confused to move so quickly. His thoughts still tossed within his mind like a storm, and he simply remained quiet, hoping perhaps some motion would help.

He paused as he reached an intersection. Slowly, he turned around, looking back up at the Tayurmya. It was quite a distance away, but even on the curve of the Obschesto he could still see it in the distance. It was a rather imposing place, after all. He knew some more particulars of the design than most, about how it was intended to look intimidating no matter where in the Obschesto a person looked.

As Pravuil looked at the building, his thoughts once again turned to Sura. He was not certain what was happening to her in the Tayurmya, but he knew it was not anything pleasant. He wondered if they were already subjecting her to the worst of the tortures one could receive in the Tayurmya.

Pravuil cringed at the thought. He was intimately familiar with those torture methods, but had never thought anything of them. He was under the impression they had always been done to those who had wronged the galaxy. It was simply a way to gain information.

 _And yet, knowing what someone I know may be going through now..._  he thought.  _And knowing that they are not what we think..._

He shook his head.  _I need to get these thoughts out._

He then paused, looking further up his curve of the Obschesto.  _Perhaps... Maybe Fu'yal is off-duty now?_

The aqueron nodded, before crossing the street. His steps were faster now, filled with a renewed sense of purpose.  _Yes,_  he said.  _Perhaps I can tell him some of what I am thinking now..._

He then looked up his curve of the Obschesto, seeing the Imperial Research Labs up ahead. The smaller white building was a welcome sight for him, though not the least because it was aesthetically much less intimidating than the Tayurmya. It was rather warm and welcoming, with various pieces of foliage on the outside of the lab. He pondered on the curves of the trenbala fronds, he looked back at the street in front of him, moving as quickly as he could through the crowd.

 _Yes,_  he thought.  _Perhaps she can help me sort my thoughts out._

* * *

The doctor reeled back in surprise. "Everything?" he asked.

Kalo leaned forward. "Yes, everything," he said. "We value trust on the Fleet, you know."

"No... we don't, actually," said Doctor Merath. He stepped forward, placing his hand on the table. "Everything?"

Kalo frowned. "Is my request truly so unrealistic?" he asked. "I simply want transparency between our peoples. That makes up an alliance in good faith, no?"

Doctor Merath's eyes widened. Kalo noted from the way his hands were positioned that the question had obviously caught him off guard. However, Kalo also noted how stiff the doctor's arms were: combined with the fact that the wrinkles around his left eye had furrowed a little bit, and Kalo could tell that the doctor was thinking hard on that.

"I..." The doctor's jaw clamped shut immediately.

However, Kalo had already caught the hesitation in the doctor's voice. "You hesitate," he noted.

The doctor seized up, one of his hands clenching into a fist. "I-I was simply... it's above my pay grade to authorize that," said the doctor.

"Then perhaps you can speak to someone who has the proper authority," said Kalo.

"I do not know if I could get him to do that, though," the doctor replied. "I'm... I'm just a doctor!"

Kalo leaned forward. "I am sure they could be convinced to make one concession to ensure this alliance is in good faith," the quarian replied.

"I..." The doctor clenched his fist. "I don't know anyone that high up. And that'll take some time."

And then, Kalo allowed himself a bittersweet smile. For once, he was grateful the face-mask obscured his facial expression. For in that moment, he caught the smallest tense of the doctor's shoulders, a miniscule motion anyone else would have missed. However, the way the tension remained told Kalo that the doctor was still holding something back.

"We'll think about it," the doctor finally said, and Kalo noticed the way his jaw tensed. The doctor then moved to the side, pressing an intercom button on the wall with a little more force than was necessary. "We are done here. Take him to the holding cells. There are...  _calls_ which must be made."

As a bunch of exions entered the room and uncuffed the quarian, he spared a final look at the doctor. Kalo noted the way his brows were furrowed, even as he was cuffed right back up. Kalo then turned, letting the exions lead him out of the room as he flexed his fingers.

 _I knew it,_  he thought.  _I must get out of here..._

* * *

Kolyat had relaxed a little bit. He was still a little cold, and he suspected that such a long time would probably give him some kind of illness that he could not afford to have in these circumstances. Still, he was not clinging to his knees with nearly as much force as he had before, and when he closed his eyes he found himself able to think of better things.

Now that he knew Jodie was alright, it made it somewhat easier to swallow that he was alone. He had closed his omni-tool since the initial call and had made sure to turn it off so he could not get any more calls. The wait was still tense, but Kolyat was in somewhat better spirits than he was before. His gaze still remained on the wall, but it was easier, then.

He then heard footsteps approach. He still jumped upon hearing them, and dared not say a word until he saw someone through the end of the pipes he had hidden behind. He knew Jodie would be after him, but he had also picked up that the people of the galaxy had found where they were through a call with Kalo. He knew Jodie would help, but he dared not say anything.

The drell peeped through the pipes, tensing a little as he saw someone's legs. He breathed in nervously: he thought he recognized the patterns of denim on her pants, but he knew it was likely he was wrong about who it was. He still shifted his position, turning to face the pipes and subconsciously ducking.

The person then turned. Kolyat then saw a bright light flash in his face, the drell covering his eyes with his hands. He cried out in surprise, turning his head away from the bright light.

There was a silence after his cry died away, but in that silence, Kolyat was able to turn towards the light.

"Kolyat!"

And that was when Kolyat released tension in his shoulders he had no idea he had.

"Jodie!" He then turned, slowly beginning to crawl out of the space of pipes he hid in. He grunted, being careful not to touch the pipes with his bare skin as he looked over to Jodie. She had turned the flashlight away, and Kolyat could see her smiling at him as he crawled out. It was a slow process, but eventually, he managed to crawl his way out of the confined space of pipes.

"Kolyat," said Jodie as she helped the drell out. "I hope you're not hurt..."

Kolyat sighed, shaking his head. "Not really, no," he said. "Still a little scared." He nodded, getting to his feet. As he looked around, he saw a humanoid being with blonde hair. "I hope these are your friends."

"They're resistance fighters," said Jodie. "We can explain on the way back."

Kolyat nodded. He sighed, looking down at the pistol still attached to his hip. "Please don't ever make me kill someone again."

Jodie looked at the gun. "That's Ashley's, isn't it?" she asked.

"I asked her to try to teach me so you wouldn't have to worry about me," said Kolyat. "I don't want to talk about it. At least, not right now..."

Jodie nodded, before turning to the other person there. "Silman, we can find our way back to the car, right?"

"Yep," said Silman, Kolyat looking at him. "We can get there and be out before anyone notices."

"Good," said Jodie. "Let's get to that, then. And in the meantime, we need to start figuring out where Ashley is."

"Ashley's okay?" asked Kolyat.

"That's our hope," said Jodie. She looked to Silman. "Jile's getting ready to prepare that, right?"

"Yes," said Silman. He then looked the drell over. "Hm, so that's a drell. Never saw a real one before. They do look a lot like an aqueron, now that Jile mentioned it."

Kolyat frowned. "You're not human," he said.

"Nope," said Silman. "Artician, here. But that's not important." He then turned to Jodie. "We should get back."

"Of course," said Jodie. "Lead the way, Silman."

And with this, Silman turned, walking down the sewer corridor. Kolyat followed, his gaze turning out to the water of the sewer immediately to his left.

* * *

"I've never known such seditious thoughts to come from  _you_ of all people, my dear Pravuil."

"I know, Fu'yal. But ever since I have left that ship..."

Pravuil sighed. He leaned back into the seat, looking back at the tolahña scientist in front of him. The tolahña adjusted her lab coat, looking to the door of the broom closet they occupied. Pravuil's eyes scanned the interior again, and he breathed out in relief when he saw no surveillance devices anywhere he could look.

"I see..." Fu'yal stepped towards Pravuil. "I haven't seen you describe anyone in that great a detail."

"Well, she left an impression on me," Pravuil replied. "In a lot of ways, she almost reminded me of Selaya..."

Fu'yal's eyes widened. "You haven't talked about her in years," she said, her hands coming together quickly.

"I know..." Pravuil shifted his posture, looking up at Fu'yal. "Do you... do you think I'm exaggerating, dear Fu'yal?"

"Well..." Fu'yal sighed, leaning against a shelf as she looked at Pravuil. "I suppose some people would chalk this sudden care for your captor up to Selyman's Syndrome, but I don't think this is a case of that. But they could also be manipulative, and all of what you saw could have been an act. You know how Cerberus was."

"Cerberus never had any asari, or other aliens from that place, for that matter," Pravuil replied. "And I doubt it was an act."

"You didn't catch the tells," Fu'yal commented.

"It is more that they were never there..." Pravuil chuckled darkly. "I believed they  _were_ lying at first. I was frustrated that I was not seeing the tells from them. Initially, I thought they were so good they had been able to get rid of most of the tells I could have latched on to."

Fu'yal nodded. "And I doubt an entire galaxy could learn to hide the truth so well," she stated.

"That would be ridiculous," said Pravuil. He sighed, pulling his legs closer. "So... I don't know, Fu'yal. We know what they did to us, but... The ones I encountered on the  _Lying Bastard_  were... They  _are_ good people. For the most part, anyhow."

"It sounds like they were," said Fu'yal. "Though putting a civilian in the line of fire is not a good move."

"The way they rationalized it, they were trying to keep him close to make sure we wouldn't capture him," said Pravuil. "I suppose there is some logic to it. After all, if you can keep an eye on such a person, it makes it easier to defend him directly. It puts him in danger, but he is close enough that you can make sure he isn't endangered more than he already is."

"Still flawed logic," Fu'yal replied. "Sounds like something an optimist would do when put in command."

Pravuil chuckled. "Their leader is quite the optimist, from what I heard," he said. He shook his head. "Regardless, everything the leaders have said was contradicted by that encounter. And even if this is a rather small group, it casts doubt on their assertion that the whole is as bad as Cerberus. In hindsight, I suppose that was confirmed by whoever joined Jon'ison Shardan on the Normandy."

"Well, I wouldn't trust what they say about the Great Purge," she said. "The guys who captured you, I mean. That could be a lie as well. But from the way it sounds... It may not be so wrong of you to think of them as people. After all, they treated you well." She then paused. "I suppose it all goes to show that galaxy has its good people as well."

Pravuil nodded. "And that is not so wrong to think," he said. He then stood up. "Thank you, Fu'yal. As always, your perspective is valuable."

"Well, that's what a friend does," she said. She then smiled, patting Pravuil on the shoulder. "If you need anything else, come talk to me, yeah?"

"Of course," the aqueron replied. He then opened the door of the broom closet, gesturing for Fu'yal to exit. "After you."

The tolahña exited, Pravuil stepping out after her. And as he did, more thoughts came back to his head.

 _Should I have mentioned her status as a spirit-touched?_ he asked.  _That sheds worse light..._

He then shook his head, before turning to Fu'yal and waving as he walked away.  _No. Perhaps that is for the best. If they find out I hid that information from Admiral Kalpalan..._  Pravuil nodded, turning to himself.

He gripped his coat in this fist, before another thought came to him.  _And this means, they are sending us on missions on false pretenses..._  He stopped in the middle of the hallway, feeling his heart constrict.  _They may mean well, but this is unconscionable..._

The aqueron nodded, before looking around at the hallway. There were a few other scientists in the hallway, but he knew there would be no issue with them. The real issue was the technology. He noted the locations of the surveillance cameras, and knew the cameras came equipped with technology that could ensure there was no blind spot. He knew this would not be an issue, though: he had manipulated those cameras for years before he had ever been allowed to step onto the field. He knew all things came with a weakness.

He shook his head  _This may very well be treason_ , he thought.  _But if Fu'yal's observations were correct, my honor has been sullied. And now..._

He then took a deep breath, remembering a whisper he had overheard from some scientists while walking down the hall with Fu'yal. They had said something about a quarian being detained right in the research center, to prepare him for a procedure. Pravuil had a feeling he knew what it was, and as he walked down the hallway, he began to look for a less populated area for him to sneak off.

 _I still have questions,_  he thought.  _Perhaps this quarian can give me answers..._

And with this, he moved to a particular alcove. As soon as he was sure nobody was looking, the aqueron ducked into the alcove, and a few seconds later he vanished from sight.

* * *

Kalo sat on the floor of his cell. His hands were cuffed in front of him, and he noticed there was no place for him to lay down except for the floor. The quarian also noticed there were no guards posted outside, which gave the containment room a sense of eerie quiet.

 _This may not have been meant for permanent holding..._  he thought. He paused, looking down at his hands.  _They may not keep me here for long..._

He then breathed in, before he began to feel around his various sashes with his hands.  _I know I put it somewhere..._ he thought.  _I am now very glad I was made to take that extra omni-tool with me. Where is it...?_

He rummaged around, before he felt a slight bump somewhere on his suit. He nodded, before he then reached a hand into his sash and pulled out a small little tool stick and a black glove. He laid the glove on the floor, before pointing the tool stick at his handcuffs. He cast a glance back up at the area surrounding him, making sure nobody had come in without his knowledge. When he was satisfied, he then pushed the tool stick close to the part where the hand cuffs remained together.

He then pressed down on a notch on the tool stick, and he watched as a very small blue flame shot out from the end facing the handcuffs. Kalo shifted his wrists a little, holding the stick so the link between the handcuffs was right in the center of the flame. He then held his hands steady, looking up at the area in front of him again to make sure nobody was watching. He heard no sound, except for the rush of the flame as it heated up the handcuffs. He exhaled, his heart pounding while he turned back to the handcuffs.

It was then that he saw the handcuff link grow red.  _I must act now..._

He then released the notch, before suddenly yanking his arms apart. The first go was unsuccessful, but on the second pull he saw the link weakening. Thus, on the third pull, he accidentally pushed himself back as his wrists came apart from each other.

He laid there in a daze for a few seconds, before chuckling.  _I am very glad I have this now,_  he thought.  _I should thank the salarian shopkeeper when I return to the Citadel_ _..._

Kalo exhaled, before pushing himself back to his feet. He then picked up the black glove, quickly pulling it back on. He then smiled, opening the spare omni-tool as he flexed his fingers.  _Thank goodness, as well, for this,_  he thought.  _I do not think it-_

"Escaping, are we?"

Kalo froze, looking up. At first, he was shocked by the presence of another person there, and how suddenly he had snuck up on him. However, when he took a second to actually look, he realized that the person looked somewhat familiar.

"You..." Kalo said.

The familiar aqueron nodded, holding his hands behind his back. "Intelligence did tell us quarians were rather crafty," he said. "I suppose even the nice ones are, to some extent."

"It is a tough galaxy we face," said Kalo. "We grow used to it." He then leaned forward. "Where's S... the asari?"

"Sura?" Kalo's eyes widened at the aqueron's question. "I suppose keeping up that pretense is no longer necessary. Aqueron hearing is much better than any of you knew. I know Sura's name, as I did for your pilot  _and_ the gunnery chief." He then frowned. "I never caught the rest of yours. Either way, most are in custody now."

Kalo frowned. "Then you planned for that..." The quarian leaned forward. "If you are here to gloat, I will not hear it."

The aqueron shook his head. "It is dishonorable to gloat," he said. He then glanced to the side, his expression softening. "As is giving false information. Perhaps it makes me a hypocrite, considering I never told a superior officer about your human spirit-touched, but..."

Kalo blinked. "You...?" he asked.

"I... Being on your ship has made me see things very differently," the aqueron replied.

Kalo's frown returned. "And you expect me to believe that," he said.

"Perhaps not," said the aqueron. "But I do have questions."

"If it is about who sent us here, I will not speak," said Kalo. "For all I know, this could be a trap."

"It very well could be," the aqueron acknowledged as he glanced to the door. "But you do not know that." He then leaned forward. "They brought you here for the cure, no?"

Kalo nodded. "They asked me to deliver it to the Fleet, yes," said Kalo. "But I do not trust them. I offered my cooperation in return for transparency with the Fleet, and the man I spoke to was hesitant to offer."

"He could have been genuine," said the aqueron.

Kalo shook his head. "You know that, because of our suits, the quarian people are much better at reading body language than most?" he asked. "He looked unusually tense for someone telling me he would tell his superior officers. He was tense enough that I do not believe this offer to be genuine. There  _must_ be something they are after that they do not feel comfortable telling me."

The aqueron nodded. "On my way here, I heard whispers about preparing you for surgery of some kind," he said.

At this, Kalo jumped back. "They said that?" he asked.

The aqueron frowned. "And they did not inform you..." He nodded. "I see..."

"Why would they do that?" he asked. "It seems odd that they would..." He shook his head. "Perhaps it is so I can see they are genuine?"

"But they would tell you, first," said the aqueron.

"True..." Kalo paused as he leaned against the back wall of the cell. "Damn. I was right to suspect him..."

"You never know where danger can come from," said the aqueron. "Perhaps there is something I can do to aid you."

Kalo's frown deepened. "And why should I trust your word?" he asked. "If you are standing here, you have already put us in a bad situation."

"We are a very...  _angry_ galaxy," the aqueron replied. "When I first came to your galaxy, I thought that it was full of people willing to brush atrocities under the rug and pretend they never happened. But from what I have seen and heard lately... I may have been very wrong. And much of that has been based on information fed by above. I have... questions. Perhaps you are the only one who can answer that, perhaps returning there under a different eye would answer that. Either way... I am no longer certain of what to think about your galaxy, nor of this one. I suspect your galaxy, but given the information I have been told, I suspect them, too."

Kalo shook his head. "I do not believe you," he said.

The aqueron then nodded. "Pravuil Soryel," he stated, placing his hand on his chest.

Kalo blinked. "What?" he asked.

"That is my name," he said. "A name can be used against you. It can tell untold information, particularly as far as government documentation goes. You give up your name, you lose  _everything_." He paused for a few seconds, letting those words sink in. "But that is why I entrust it to you. I believe I may be able to gain answers to the questions I seek."

"You still want to protect your people, though," said Kalo. "I know that instinct."

"Naturally," Pravuil replied. "But perhaps your leader is the only one looking for a true solution. One that will benefit the good people of  _both_ galaxies."

Kalo paused, narrowing his eyes. He then looked up at the aqueron, standing proud. "Kalo'Veera nar Idenna," he said. "That is my name."

"Then allow me to begin by doing this." With this, the aqueron lifted his hand, opening up some kind of hand tool. He tapped a few holographic buttons, and shortly afterwards the doors in front of him opened.

Kalo blinked in surprise. "I..."

"You did wish to escape, no?" asked Pravuil.

The quarian frowned, before he exhaled and exited the cell. "I hope my trust in you is not misplaced." He then turned, opening his omni-tool. "If I am going to leave this place, I am not leaving without this cure."

Pravuil nodded. "I think I might know where to help you there," he said. He then opened his own hand tool. "If they were taking you to surgery, they would have already prepared some in the surgery area."

"And I assume you know where that is," said Kalo.

"No, but I can find out on the way." The aqueron nodded, before gesturing to Kalo to follow him. "Keep your head down, and I will take you there. Once we have the cure, we leave."

* * *

The two of them exited the holding bay. Pravuil looked around, checking his hand-com once again. He then glanced up at a nearby security camera, before looking back at the hand-com. He looked back to Kalo, watching the quarian as he looked up at the camera.

The aqueron smiled, twitching his finger. He then nodded. "Smart one," he said. "Quickly, that camera isn't "seeing" us."

With this, the aqueron stepped forward, quickly darting down the nearby hallway. Kalo followed immediately, the quarian staying close. Pravuil glanced back at him long enough to see him checking behind them, before he began to move forward. As he reached a fork in the hallway, he flattened his back against the nearby wall, his hand-com at the ready. When he felt Kalo flatten himself against the wall behind him, he peeked out at the security camera behind him. He flicked his hand-com, smiling in satisfaction as he-

"Move." Pravuil turned at Kalo's whispered declaration. He then turned back to look behind them, though, and just as quickly as Kalo rushed past him, Pravuil vaulted around the corner. He glanced past the corner, seeing the lab coats of a pair of scientists as they walked back. They looked too concentrated on their clipboards to have noticed anything, but Pravuil knew to be careful.

"Keep an eye on the corridors," Pravuil commanded, before he flicked his hand out. A display came out from his handcom, and there he could see a feed from the cameras. He noticed the pair of scientists walking along, and then they turned to the right upon the next corridor. He could not make out what was on the clipboard, but he knew from the way they turned right they might walk by.

Pravuil then waved his hand again, the display disappearing as he gently nudged Kalo. "Back," he whispered. The quarian obeyed, both of them hiding around their original place on the corner. Pravuil then saw the two scientists walk past an opening further down the hallway, still too concentrated on the clipboard to see them.

The aqueron nodded, peering down the hall for more security measures as he gestured to Kalo. "Follow me."

He then moved quickly down the hall, slinking across to the other side. The quarian followed, his movements a little clunkier but nevertheless quick. The aqueron then moved quickly to the intersection the scientists had passed by, being sure to check for cameras and other bystanders as they moved on. He quickly rounded the intersection, flicking his hand-com once again as they moved through the facility.

And slowly, Pravuil moved closer to the two scientists. Kalo followed along, Pravuil keeping constant surveillance over their surroundings even as he grew closer. The scientists, two articians from what Pravuil could see as they approached, suspected almost nothing as Pravuil approached. Even so, he kept his distance, always glancing at the hallways while looking for that perfect opportunity to strike.

The scientists turned left. And right as Pravuil rounded the corner, he saw it: a small, unassuming janitor's closet. The good news was, it was out of the way enough that perhaps something could be done. The bad news, was how close it was.

Pravuil frowned, his pace increasing.  _If I can time this right_...

He glanced behind him, seeing Kalo relatively close. He then gestured to Kalo with a finger, beckoning him forward. Before the quarian could act, though, Pravuil lunged forward, his hand snapping out. He caught one of the scientists in the side, the scientist falling to the floor with a grunt. The second scientist whirled around, but before he could say anything Pravuil was behind him, one hand clamped over his mouth as he slammed his back right next to the janitor's closet. The aqueron then turned to the janitor's door, his hand-com opening it quickly as he ducked right in.

As soon as he did, he saw that Kalo had taken the hint. He grabbed the other scientist's arm, dragging him to his feet before shoving him into the closet. It was done with far less finesse than Pravuil thought safe, but it got the job done as the quarian leapt into the closet. The aqueron then closed the door behind him, Kalo pinning the other scientist to the wall behind him.

Pravuil then turned to the scientist he held. "We do not have much time," he whispered. "Which room are you performing the quarian's surgery on?"

He then slightly parted his fingers, the webbing between them giving the artician in his grasp a little more room to talk. Despite this, all he heard was the frenzied breathing of his captor. "I... I don't..." The artician squirmed a little. "What do you-?"

"I won't ask again," said Pravuil, flicking his hand-com on. He rested his fingertips against the artician's wrist, and it was then that he knew the artician would be aware of a small buzzing sensation. "Which room?"

"Uh... uh..." The artician looked down at the floor, before turning his attention to his assistant, who was still held in place by Kalo. "What was it?"

"32-A," said the other artician. "Please, let me-"

"I wish to hear you say it," Pravuil insisted.

"He's correct!" the artician in Pravuil's grasp said. "I just didn't remember, I swear! ack!" He then squeezed his eyes shut, whimpering softly.

But nothing happened. Pravuil nodded, flicking his hand-com closed. "And I believe you," he said. "Apologies, but we must be going."

Faster than anyone could blink, Pravuil pulled out a pill from his jacket. The aqueron then quickly parted the artician's mouth, slipping the pill in and clamping his mouth shut. The artician's eyes widened as he swallowed the pill, but he could not do much else before he slumped down, unconscious. As Pravuil gently set him down, he heard a loud hit from beside him, and then he watched as the quarian gently set down the then-unconscious artician down.

"Careful, Kalo," Pravuil said. "You might have given him a concussion!"

"Sorry," Kalo said. "I have not done stealth so much."

"It shows," Pravuil said. He then nodded, flexing his hand-com as a blue holographic projection of a building came on. He then brought his other hand to it, his index finger and his thumb held together as he approached. As he spread the two fingers, Kalo watched as the projection zoomed in, and Kalo recognized the projection as a possible floor plan.

"Alright... 32-A..." He brought his other hand over, typing in a few commands quickly. He then looked up at the display, seeing a green dot appear. "That is us." Pravuil then brought his index finger back to the projection, bringing the finger upwards as he looked. After a second, a red dot appeared two stories below the green dot. Pravuil nodded, before he then brought his hand down to type some more things.

"That is our destination," Kalo said.

"Yes," said Pravuil. "And to get there, we have to pass by thirty-two surveillance cameras."

"Take the air vents?" Kalo suggested.

Pravuil shook his head. "Only someone who watches vids would say that," he stated. "It won't hold our weight, and the noise our shuffling will make will attract attention." He then frowned, looking at a small shaft connected to the hallway close to the red dot. As he looked on, he squinted, scrolling up while keeping track of where the shaft was. "But..." He then nodded. "Kalo, how good would you say your grip is?"

"How good does it need to be?" he asked.

Pravuil flashed him a smile, right as he saw that the shaft passed by not too far away from them. "Good enough that you won't fall too far past a certain point."

* * *

The aqueron swung into the shaft with extreme ease. Kalo glanced around the hallway once, before peering into the shaft.

"Are you certain this is a good idea?" Kalo asked.

"We dodge all but one of the surveillance cameras this way," said Pravuil as he pushed his legs against the walls of the surprisingly wide shaft. Already Kalo could see the exhertion the aqueron put into the movement, though. "As handy as my hand-com is, it can't take on the task of rerouting so many cameras at once."

"Is that what it is called?" asked Kalo.

"Yes," said Pravuil. "Now, I don't think you want to be caught out there." He then began to move down. "We go down two floors. Just keep your legs propped, and don't slip."

Kalo sighed, before he slowly peeked his head in, looking around for something to grab on to. Pravuil nodded. "When I get to the next floor, grab the edge of that," he said, pointing at the slot Kalo's hands rested on. "You can use that to get into this position. It's the best way."

Kalo sighed, nodding as Pravuil continued to ease himself towards the next flap slowly. When the quarian saw he was of sufficient distance away, he slowly pulled himself into the shaft, the quarian admiring that it felt much larger in person. He then propped his feet around the shaft, holding on for dear life as he pushed himself to a position where he could easily shove his back against the opposite side. He then took a breath to steady himself, closing his eyes.

 _Breathe_ , he thought, exhaling rather loudly.

He then let go. In the same movement, he pushed down on his legs. Before he knew it, his back had hit the opposite end with such force that his feet briefly left the wall. The quarian squirmed, shoving his feet onto the shaft with a loud clang. He breathed in and out for a few seconds, before he faintly realized he was still in the same place. He sighed, looking up at the shaft above him.

"Keep moving," he heard from below. Kalo glanced down to see that Pravuil was nearly there. The aqueron moved very quickly, his movements calculated. He then looked up at Kalo. "I will be out soon. I can manipulate the one nearby security camera, and you should be able to come down in time. Just don't fall."

And with this, Kalo watched as Pravuil braced his hands against the wall. The aqueron then pushed off of the wall, his hands coming forward and quickly grabbing the slot. He then released his feet, planting them a little further down before he pushed off and rolled out of the shaft and out of his sight.

Kalo remained, staring in awe at what he witnessed.  _How does he move like that?_  he thought.  _It is almost like..._

He shook his head, taking a breath to steady himself.  _Slow and steady..._

He began by moving his right foot down first. His left leg shook a little bit, but as he planted his right foot back on the wall, he let out a sigh of relief. He slowly inched down, his hands tensed up against the wall behind him as he slowly moved down. He then moved his left foot, planting it down shakily. He breathed in, already feeling his legs burn a little as he slowly worked his way down.

It was when he had finally inched down to the next level that he felt his right foot slip. In a panic, the quarian stamped on the wall extra hard, his right side leaning to the side a little bit as he panted. All was still for a second, and he felt his legs begin to burn. He then held still, his eyes wide as he glanced back down at the opening he had seen Pravuil vanish through.

He then slightly shifted his left foot, pressing perhaps a little too hard. He then began inching back down. He looked down, seeing Pravuil look up as Kalo kept on moving.

That was when Kalo heard something drop from a few floors up. He then glanced up, seeing what looked like a bag of trash sailing straight towards him. His eyes widened, watching as the bundle grew closer. And then, his right foot completely slipped, and the quarian lost his balance pretty soon afterwards. He tumbled forward, faintly thinking to stretch out his right hand towards something, anything that could provide him with purchase.

Thankfully, he felt someone grab his wrist as he fell: instinctively, Kalo grabbed on, even as his body slammed into the shaft in front of him. He heard the bag pass him harmlessly, but before he could react, he felt the hand pull him through. Kalo kicked at the air with his legs, and he reached for the edge of the shaft's opening with his other hand.

After a second, he grabbed it, and managed to help Pravuil pull him out. He then landed on the ground, suddenly aware of the way his legs burned.

Eventually, Kalo pushed himself up, noticing that Pravuil was already moving towards a nearby door. "That could have gone quite a bit better," Pravuil commented.

"Indeed it could have," Kalo agreed, slowly walking towards the aqueron. "I-"

"We will have to work quickly," said Pravuil. "We get in there, get the thing you want, and then we get out of here. No hesitation. If they were not suspicious because two of their friends have gone missing, they will be after that ruckus in the trash shaft."

Kalo nodded. "Of course," he said. He then gestured to Pravuil. "After you."

The aqueron nodded, lifting his hand and twitching a finger to open his hand-com. He then brought his ear closer to the door, nodding as he listened for anything. He heard very little, but just in case he pulled a flap on his jacket out of the way. Kalo saw a handgun there of unusual design, but he paid it no attention.

And then, after a second, Pravuil opened his hand. The door immediately opened, and Kalo looked to a lab. There was a bed right in the center, one with wrist straps involved. He also saw a doctor, the very same one who interrogated him earlier. He looked up from his clipboard, turning his attention to Pravuil.

"Hey, you are not-"

But before he could say much else, Pravuil darted forward. He forcibly grabbed Doctor Merath's wrist, slamming it down onto where the restraints were and slamming the cuff shut. The doctor cried out in surprise, but before he could react, he was forced face-down onto the bed, Kalo quickly stepping in and slamming the cuffs shut on the other wrist. The aqueron quickly cuffed Doctor Merath's ankles to the table as well.

All was silent. Kalo nodded, turning to the bed and looking at the doctor. He glanced over at a surgical table, seeing a hypodermic needle and a small sealed-up grey bag as well.

"That is the immunobooster on the table, is it?" asked Kalo. "The item in the grey pouch."

"How... how did you...?" the doctor asked.

"That is irrelevant," said Kalo. "Answer my question."

"Yes!" The doctor nodded. "Yes, it is! Let me go this instant!"

"I am afraid I cannot," said Kalo. He then nodded to Pravuil. "Make sure he is indisposed."

Pravuil silently nodded, his hand having grabbed another pill. He then turned to Doctor Merath, feeding him the pill immediately. The doctor stopped struggling after a little bit, but Kalo could see that he still breathed.

The quarian nodded. "What are those, anyway?"

"Sleeping pills," said Pravuil. He then frowned. "I am afraid the risk of using them is quite great. If they look at the chemicals in the blood afterwards, they can trace it back to the DGI. They will know for sure there is a turncoat after that."

Kalo frowned. "So why are you using it?" he asked.

"The scientists here are not a threat," said Pravuil. "They are just doing what they are told." He then turned to the bed, gently picking up the grey pouch. "Amazing that such a marvel can be held in such a small pouch." He then held it out to Kalo. "I believe you may want to store this in a safe place."

Kalo nodded, gently taking the grey pouch. He held it in his hands, marveling at how small it was. "This is what will help my people..." He looked up at Pravuil. "I... I have no words."

"Very few do when they have a cure for a horrifying disease," said Pravuil.

"No." Kalo shook his head. "It is not just that. This is the future..."

"Do you really believe it will change so much?" Pravuil asked.

"It will change  _everything_ ," Kalo replied. "Our culture has revolved around our suits for centuries. To see us shed our suits..." He paused, glancing at Pravuil. "This cure holds the future of my people." He then frowned, before he gently placed the pouch in a pocket of his suit that he knew he would not sit on in the near future. "And it will be utterly useless if I cannot return to them."

Pravuil nodded. "Then we should escape." He then opened his hand-com, the projection of the floor plan appearing again. "We don't want to take the obvious exit, but I know of a service entrance we can use to make our escape. Of course, we'll have to move quickly. By now, we've called more attention to ourselves through some of what we have done, and if we don't hurry, we may face-"

And at that moment, a warning klaxon went off. The room began to flash between intense red light and some small darkness that did not last very long. Kalo stiffened, before Pravuil sighed.

"...them," he finished. He shook his head, walking to a nearby window and peering out of it. "The coast is clear, we may still be able to make it out alive." He then pointed to Kalo. "Does that omni-tool do anything useful?"

"It can disable shields and hack," he said. "I must warn you, though, that I do not know most software in this galaxy."

Pravuil nodded. "Then you will have to improvise," he said. He then nodded, grabbing his hand gun. "Come on. We have to move, now."

The two exited the room, rushing down the hallway as Pravuil looked for the way to the nearest staircase. He nodded, raising his gun as Kalo opened his omni-tool. The two of them then approached a door, noticing that there was a red hologram in front of it.

Kalo blinked, getting on his knees. "Watch my back," he said. "Let us see..."

Pravuil nodded, holding his hand gun out in front of him and watching the halls for any units. Kalo knelt down, frowning as an interface came on his omni-tool. "Interesting," he said. "It is rather similar..." Kalo nodded, bringing his other hand forward and beginning to tap on holographic interfaces. "This should only take a-"

"There they are!"

Pravuil turned to his right, looking down the hall to see a group of four guards approach. Pravuil shifted so he stood in front of Kalo, and that was when he held his weapon in front of him. The soldiers raised their weapons, aiming them right at the aqueron as he stood in front of Kalo. The aqueron stood perfectly still, knowing even the slightest movement would cause them to open fire.

A second afterwards, though, the door behind them flashed green. Kalo abruptly stood up, slamming his fist against the door's controls.

Right as soon as he moved, the four soldiers opened fire. Pravuil returned fire pretty quickly, but he only got off a couple of shots before Kalo grabbed his arm and dragged him into the stairwell. As soon as Pravuil was through the doors, though, they both turned, running down the stairs as quickly as they could.

"So where is this service entrance?" Kalo asked.

"In the basement," said Pravuil. "We just have to hope we don't run into any more guards."

"And what are the chances of that?" Kalo asked.

"Very...  _minimal_ ," the aqueron admitted.

"Then we may have to fight out of this," Kalo replied. "I need a gun."

"There should be an armory on the way there," said Pravuil as he looked up at a floor number. "Problem is, it's heavily fortified."

"We could also grab a weapon from a downed soldier, no?" Kalo asked.

"Of course," said Pravuil. "That might actually work better. We'll worry about the armory as a last resort. If we can down someone and you can get their weapon, get it."

They continued to rush down the stairs, Pravuil glancing at numbers. After finally arriving at the designated floor, he flattened himself against the nearby wall, pushing Kalo against it. He then paused, his pistol out.

"I need you to disable their shields as we go," said Pravuil. "Can you do that?"

Kalo tapped on his omni-tool, before nodding. "Whenever I use it, I need to wait a few seconds for it to charge back up again."

Pravuil nodded. "Good to know." He then looked at his gun, looking to the container of liquid on the side. It was built into the gun, of course, and Kalo knew the sickly green-looking substance inside. It was still mostly full, the thick liquid only showing a minor air bubble inside. The aqueron nodded, before looking at the door controls and noting it was green.

"They're expecting us," he commented. "Keep your head down."

Kalo nodded. "I am ready when you are."

Pravuil nodded, before reaching over and opening the door.

On the other side was what looked to have been a cafeteria. Of course, tables were turned over as improvised cover, with about four guards posted behind each table. As soon as the door opened, streaks of plasma raced past the opening. As the rounds left scorch marks on the opposite wall, Pravuil nodded, glancing at a praetorin situated rather close to the wall, who was kneeling on one knee who was perhaps too far out of cover.

 _Sloppy_ , Pravuil thought, before he nodded. "To the left," he whispered to Kalo. "Don't leave cover until I shout go, and do not inhabit the same piece of cover I'm at."

The quarian popped out of cover, pointing his omni-tool at the offending praetorin. He quickly mashed a holographic button, and then a shower of sparks emanated from the praetorin's armor. He barely had time to blink in confusion before Pravuil turned, shooting the praetorin in the leg. He released his weapon with a loud cry, nursing his wounded leg as the artician next to him turned in shock.

Pravuil slinked out of cover then, rushing straight for that artician. He took a few plasma rounds to his shields, and he only barely managed to leap into cover right when his shields broke. He leapt in next to the artician, and Pravuil immediately hit him in the face with the back of his fist hard enough to knock him out. He then turned to the praetorin, kicking him in the jaw to the same effect, before grabbing the praetorin's assault rifle.

"Go!"

Kalo broke cover, his omni-tool extended. He disabled the shields of an artician across the room from where Pravuil was, before rolling and dodging some fire. He quickly flipped a table over just in time to catch a plasma round that would have caught him in the chest, before he ducked down behind it.

"Catch!" Kalo turned, watching as an assault rifle sailed towards him. He held his hands out, barely catching the rifle. The quarian took a second to analyze the weapon, before he peered out over cover. He saw Pravuil leap right over enemy cover, slamming the artician's head down against the floor as he kicked the only remaining guard away. Kalo turned towards that guard, shooting at it with his new-found weapon. He was surprised at the large blob of superheated fluid that shot out of his rifle, and he was even more surprised when it slammed against what he assumed were the enemy's shields, which flared up as a ring of heat. The distraction did not last long, though, for Pravuil then turned, leaping onto the last remaining guard and slamming his face against the table.

Before Kalo could react, a door burst open: in rushed a couple more guards. Kalo ducked right under cover, hearing the splash of the hot rounds against his cover. He then opened his omni-tool, looking at the first one to enter, popping out of cover to take out his shields. Pravuil caught on immediately, rushing out of cover and firing his pistol at the one whose shields were down. Kalo quickly saw the man grab his stomach and tumble forward, before he turned back to the other as Pravuil rushed him and kneed him hard in the head.

Wasting no time, Kalo followed Pravuil as they both rushed to the knocked-down door. They quickly scanned the hallway for more guards, before both of them rushed down the hall, Kalo following Pravuil as they both began to run.

Kalo looked at the weapon a little more, seeing the liquid container had depleted a little, though not much. "How far are we?"

"One more stairwell, and we'll be there," Pravuil said. The aqueron then looked up, just in time to dodge fire from a pair of guards.

Kalo rolled forward, his omni-tool hand outstretched to the closer guard. His shields went down, and Pravuil shot him down while he rushed to the other one and knocked his head hard against the wall. As soon as he did, Kalo began running again, following the aqueron around a corner.

Pravuil then came up to a door, Kalo noticing that the door was locked. He immediately knelt down in front of the door, opening his omni-tool. "Cover me!" he stated.

The aqueron nodded, looking down the hall as he stood in front of Kalo. The quarian worked feverishly to get the door open, Pravuil looking up to see a pair of guards approach them. He then rushed forward, ducking under the plasma fire of one of them. Kalo had to duck his head as he hacked away, some of the hot liquid splashing across his suit. He gritted his teeth, simply hacking away as he heard Pravuil dispatch the two guards behind him. He then heard footsteps coming from the hallway they had just came from, seeing more guards.

Kalo gritted his teeth, but before anything else happened, he looked up to see the door lights go green.

He then turned, smashing his hand against the door. As he leapt in, though, he felt a searing pain on his leg, the quarian losing his footing as he hit the top of a flight of stairs. He tumbled down, his back hitting the wall right at the foot of those stairs. He did not hear anything else crack, but nevertheless he still remained dazed.

A few seconds later, he heard a few thuds, before seeing Pravuil rush towards him and pull him to his feet. Kalo found he could walk just fine even despite the searing pain, but he also noticed a throb in his upper right arm.

"You can walk, no?" asked Pravuil.

Kalo nodded, before looking back up. "I... Oh Keelah, I think I got wounded."

"We don't have time to treat it now," said Pravuil. "Come!"

He then rushed down the remaining stairway, both of them glancing back. They broke through the door to the basement, Pravuil running through the various halls.

"Service entrance, service entrance... Come on..." Pravuil cursed under his breath as they navigated the hallway. Eventually, they came upon an unassuming door, Kalo frowning as Pravuil shoved Kalo through.

The quarian stumbled through, looking back at Pravuil as he lifted his pistol and aimed it at a nearby pipe. "Kalo, move! Now!"

The quarian rushed into a nearby stretch of sewer. He barely heard the footsteps behind him, before he was thrown from his feet and flung several feet away. As he flew, he thought he saw a bright orange fireball, and Pravuil's form just barely rushing ahead of the flames.

And then, his head hit the opposite wall, and Kalo blacked out right at that moment.

* * *

Jile fiddled with the controls a little, the aqueron leaning against the control pad. He cast a glance back outside, his eyes narrowing and looking for any trace of the guys from upstairs. When he failed to notice anything, he nodded, turning his attention back to the comms chatter he had been keeping track of for the past several minutes.

"How deep did they have to go...?" Jile wondered out loud. He frowned as he listened to the comms chatter, frowning at what he heard.

He did not get to dwell on it long, though, for immediately he heard a loud rapping from the transport door. Jile jumped in surprise, but after a few seconds, he heard the signature knock that Silman used on him all the time. The aqueron smiled, and then pressed a button on the controls that would open the door.

As the door opened, Jile stepped out of the pilot's chair. "So you're finally back," he said. "Took you guys long enough."

"Sorry, it was really twisty," said Silman. Jile watched as Jodie and someone he did not know entered. "Bloody twisty sewers sometimes, right?"

Jile nodded, standing up and looking at the newcomer, who looked rather like a desert lizard. "So this is one of their famous drell, eh?"

"Yes," said Jodie. She then looked back at Jile, sighing. "Be mindful of him, he's not a soldier."

The drell nodded, silently walking to the seats on the transport and sitting down. Silman sat next to him, remaining silent as they both looked up at the ceiling.

Jodie turned to Jile. "So, now we have to go find Ashley, right?" she asked.

Jile shrugged, gesturing for Jodie to come forward. "Well, I'd say yeah, but..." He frowned. "While you were busy running around those sewers, comms chatter really picked up. It probably isn't safe to try anything right now."

Jodie frowned. "Why?" she asked.

Jile leaned forward, opening the comms chatter. "Something about an escape?"

"An escape?" Jodie leaned in, her pulse picking up just a little.

" _...missing, presumed traitor. Quarian has escaped, I repeat, quarian has escaped._ "

And then Jodie's eyes widened. "Kalo..." She then turned to Jile. "We  _have_ to help him!"

"I don't know if that's possible," Jile replied. "Some of the other comms chatter I heard reported an explosion. Some of them are listing them as missing, rather than escaped."

"Them?" asked Jodie. "So that could mean he had help..." She paused. "We have to try regardless. Even if they died in the explosion..."

"There's too much risk," said Jile. "They could've confiscated his omni-tool when he was captured, and your quarian friend may not have gotten it. Even if they had, would you risk that?"

Jodie paused, squeezing her eyes shut. She turned away from Jile as she took a deep breath in. "Point taken," she said. She then turned away, placing a hand on her heart. "I hope he's okay..."

Jile nodded, bringing a hand up and patting Jodie gently. "He'll be fine," he reassured her. "I'm sure he'll be fine."

Jodie nodded, though Jile noticed the lump in her throat she swallowed. "I hope you're right," she said. "I hope you're right."


	18. Chapter 18

Ashley sighed, leaning back in the chair as she looked up at Druvak. She remained seated at the table, her omni-tool open to the news channels in the Obschesto. She frowned, leaning close.

" _And in other news, an explosion at the Imperial Research Labs has everyone on high alert. The traitor has vanished along with someone else, but to where? Authorities are scrambling to figure it out._ "

Ashley sighed, shaking her head. "Well, shit," she said. "Looks like I won't be leaving any time soon."

"I am afraid not, Madam Wi-Ash," Druvak replied as he walked to her side. "I wish there was something I could do."

"I wouldn't know if there is," she said. She then looked back up at Druvak. "Don't you have to go to work?"

"Not for another few hours," said Druvak. "I doubt the furore of increased security will die out by then."

"Yeah..." Ashley shook her head. "I'm sorry. I'm probably saddling you here."

"No no, please," said Druvak. "Don't speak of yourself as such, Ma-Ash. It would have been preferable to seeing you starve on the streets."

"Maybe," said Ashley. "But the fact that I'm still here is going to put you in danger, and now I'm going to be here longer than I'd hoped. If they find me here, they'll implicate you."

"I maintain that it's a misunderstanding," said Druvak. He shook his head. "Though I suppose you are right. If I know Master Ru'val, he would be very worried, particularly since he does not maintain as much pull as he would like."

Ashley nodded. "I guess that impacts Sa'lem, too?" she asked.

"It does," Druvak replied. "There is nothing he can do, and he knows that. It's caused Master Ru'val so much pain, that Young Master Sa'lem's behavior is no longer being brushed off as the actions of a rebellious youth."

"Shit..." Ashley shook her head. "I can't even imagine what that'd be like. I don't _want_ to know what that'd be like..."

"Nobody does," Druvak replied. He sighed, before sitting down next to Ashley. "Well, I suppose we have some time until I leave for Master Ru'val's home. You speak like you have family back home."

Ashley smiled. "Three sisters, and my mom," she said. "Dad was an Alliance marine through and through, but... well, he's with God now."

* * *

"Are you _kidding_ me?"

Sugrak Kalpalan slammed his fist on his desk again, the metal denting underneath his fist. A few intelligence officers stood in front of him, the ones right in front of his desk jumping slightly at his sudden outburst of anger.

"S-sir, please, calm yourself," said the foremost officer.

"Calm myself?" he asked. "Are your DGI guys able to do _anything_?" He began to pace around the room, his steps faster than usual. "This has been an unmitigated _disaster_ since the initial intelligence leak! These denizens of this other galaxy find their way here!" He then pointed directly at the officer closest to his desk. "You told me this would be sorted out immediately! You said this was a threat easily quashed! And instead, they've _somehow_ managed to cause problems for us left and right! Right as we think the problem is about to be rooted out, something _else_ happens!"

"We know, sir, and we're assessing what the cause has been," said the agent.

"And you think I have _not_?" Kalpalan asked, gripping the edge of the desk. "I've interrogated one of them, had soldiers on the field, checked on their ship, and helped rehabilitate that prisoner they had, all to clean up the mess _you_ have made! And what have all of you done? You've done _nothing_!" He then leaned forward. "You've done nothing, except perform _failed_ interrogations that may have actually contributed!"

"Excuse me?" the agents replied.

"I've had enough!" said the admiral. "I'm trying to defend the people of this place, and you have made that difficult!"

The agent then frowned. "We may remind you, we did _everything_ correctly," said the agent. "We're still trying to determine what went wrong in the first place to keep it from happening. You think it's easy when everything we have tried has brought back absolutely nothing? We simply do what we must."

"It isn't _good_ enough!" The admiral shook his head, before sitting down. "Tell your superiors whatever you want. But as relates to the official investigation behind it, I'm taking over for now. If you meddle at all in what I do, you'll hear from your superiors about it!"

"Whatever you say." The DGI officer then bowed. "I just hope you know that doing so, you may incur the wrath of our superiors."

"I am prepared for that," he said. "Just get out of my office."

"As you say," the officer replied.

All of the DGI officers in the room then exited, the door closing behind them. As soon as they had left, Kalpalan shook his head, his claws raking lightly against his scales.

"Lovely," he said to himself. "If Punargathana wasn't involved with the outsiders before, they definitely are now." He shook his head. "They're getting bolder. That's not good..."

He then shook his head, leaning back. He had already ordered his units to monitor all comms lines, and in the meantime he kept one ear held to his comm units.

But something felt rather off. The admiral could not place what it was, but he still felt strange, as if there was a piece of the puzzle that he was missing. He frowned, shaking his head as he stood up.

"Perhaps Valentine would know," he said aloud. "Well, if he does not lie to me again."

He then walked to the door, shaking his head.

"It's a shame," said Kalpalan. "It could have helped the quarian people so much..."

He then left his office, walking down the hall with a purpose-filled gait.

* * *

The first thing Kalo noticed as he woke up was that his back had been propped up against a hard surface.

He blearily opened his eyes, finding that there was very little light beyond his face mask. His hands felt at the hard curved wall behind him, and as he listened he realized he was near rushing water of some sort. He then turned to his left.

Pravuil looked back at him, the aqueron nodding. "Welcome back to the land of the living, Kalo," he stated.

Kalo groaned, pushing off his back and finding he was sore. "Where are we?" he asked softly.

"Down in the sewers." The aqueron shifted his posture. "We nearly did not escape, but... we have. Hopefully, they will think it is Punargathana."

Kalo's eyes narrowed. "What?"

"Punargathana," said the aqueron. "Otherwise known as the terrorist cell fighting against the government." He chuckled. "For once, I'm glad they exist. It's covered my tracks even despite all the people that have seen us. At any rate, it will buy us a little time to figure out where to go from here."

Kalo frowned. "I hope you..."

And then, Kalo felt something catch in his throat. He leaned forward, before unleashing a mighty cough. The phlegm pooled in his throat pretty quickly, and after another couple of coughs he could taste the mucous on his tongue. The feeling caused his shoulders to tense, and it was only then that he realized how cold he felt. As he realized the way his skin constricted around his body, he opened his omni-tool and opened it to an internal thermometer application he had installed before his Pilgrimage.

He then waited a few seconds, before the omni-tool beeped and displayed a temperature that was higher than it should have been.

"Damn, of all the times to get sick..." He leaned back, swallowing the mucous and cringing as he did. He then looked down at his leg, seeing a very crudely done seal on the suit breach done with a few lengths of cloth. "Did you attempt to do that?"

"You weren't awake," Pravuil replied. "And I had the feeling you would not be receptive to me using the nanomachine cure without your permission first." He then shook his head, looking away. "I'll admit, sealing up suits is not something I know how to do."

Kalo sighed, before pulling his leg up and looking at it. "Well... It could have been worse," he said, before he reached for another spot on his sash. "If you should ever need to do this again, please check my scarves first. You would have seen this." He then held up a piece of suit material, as well as a pouch of omnigel. "If I'm out and you need to seal a suit breach, use these two items. The one is a sealant for the other." He then coughed again, crumpling the suit material out of reflex. As soon as the cough died away, he pulled his leg so he could see it. "This looks like a bad wound..." He then sighed, pulling on the cloth and then applying the omni-gel around the site of the wound. He then patted the suit material on, smoothing it over and pressing it on even despite the pain.

"And that is all?" Pravuil asked.

"If I had access to the _Lying Bastard_ , there would be much more work to be done," he said. He then sighed. "But alas, they took my immunoboosters. I hope I can get back to the Lying Bastard in time. This illness is likely to get worse, and if I take too long..." Kalo looked ahead grimly.

"It's that bad?" asked Pravuil.

"Yes," said Kalo.

The aqueron shook his head. "I had no idea."

"Many do not care to know," Kalo replied, shaking his head. He sighed. "But how are we to get back there without being seen?"

"I admit, I don't have any plans," said Pravuil. He frowned. "What do you need?"

"An immunobooster, of course," said Kalo. He then frowned, patting his chest. "And not this, either. You were correct about that. It may need to be investigated more."

"Fair," said Pravuil. "And I imagine more to seal that suit."

"Yes..." Kalo coughed again. "What do we do?"

"Well... we have time to plan now," said Pravuil. "I've had time to regain my bearings. Perhaps we should start by moving towards the docks?"

"We will have to, yes," Kalo replied. He sneezed this time. "Oh, this is going to be rather terrible."

Pravuil stood up, helping Kalo to his feet. "Take heart, Kalo," he said. "You will be alright." He then looked to the quarian. "Can you walk?"

Kalo shifted his weight to apply some amount of pressure to his wounded leg. "I can," he stated briefly. "Not well, but I can move."

Pravuil nodded, opening his hand-com. Before long, a beam of light shot out, which he shone down the passageway. "Then come," he said. "I don't quite know the way, but I'll figure it out."

With this, the aqueron began to walk. Kalo followed with a slight limp in his step, but he still kept up with Pravuil's slower gait.

* * *

"So what do we do now?"

Jodie turned to Kolyat where he sat in the transport. Uncertainly, she stepped back into the body of the transport, looking at Silman as he stretched his arms behind him.

"Well, I figure we're heading back to base, right?" asked Silman. "Too dangerous to use comms to find your other friend given that escape attempt."

"Yeah, man," said Jile as he turned back to Jodie. "We _could_ try when we get back to base, though. These things usually die out after they've started piecing together what's happening."

"And how long do you think that'll take?" asked Jodie.

"Oh, an hour," said Jile. "But that'll give us enough time to plan, I imagine."

Jodie nodded. "I was about to say, we do need a plan to get out of this galaxy once we have everyone," she said.

"Well, we'll probably have something by now," said Jile. "I know the boss, she's _very_ fast about these things."

Jodie sighed, hearing Aiden trill softly. "Well, let's hope she's fast enough to end quickly enough to call Ashley," she said. "I'm still very worried about her."

"I'm sure she's fine," said Kolyat. "She wouldn't let them take her, not that easily." He paused, looking to the ground. "At least, she better be fine. I'm not forgiving her if she isn't!"

Silman nodded. "She will be," he replied. "She will be."

* * *

Kim held her hands behind her back. "What were the results on the Tayurmya recon?"

Vi'ram stepped forward, holding a datapad in his hand that he handed off to Kim. Jodie watched with Liara and Sa'lem, all of them taking note of Wilson as he leaned against a railing. Kolyat stood just behind Jile, who was situated close to Wilson and Silman. Everyone's concentration was focused on the center of the holographic projector. The sole exception to this was Jile, who was occupied with a panel on the side as he worked to find a way to contact Ashley.

Vi'ram nodded. "They're using the pattern we confirmed, ma'am," Vi'ram replied. "Changed it right up into that pattern." He chuckled. "You always seem to know about these things, ma'am!"

"I have my ways," said Kim. She then walked around. "Now... That means..." She then smiled. "Yes. That will involve a change of guard that involves a great deal of coordination. In that plan, they make rotations around the Tayurmya, each group of guards patrolling the entire Tayurmya in tight groups of two. There's rarely a moment when the guards' eyes are not trained on something."

Jodie frowned. "So what's the plan there?"

Kim nodded. "I believe I can smuggle some of us in there as guards," she began. "The Tayurmya employs plenty of surveillance cameras, but if I pose as one of the guards, I can deal with them." She then turned to Jodie. "If I can find a way to sneak you in there, we might be able to use Aiden to that effect, too."

Jodie glanced up. "It's been a while since we've done real espionage," she observed. "But Aiden can adapt." She frowned. "Though you'd think they would have anti-spirit-touched measures, don't you think?"

"They will," said Kim. "But that's why we'll be one team. I can cover those security systems that'll keep you from using Aiden. We stay close, we can do what must be done." She then nodded, her right arm flourishing as a series of displays appeared in the center of the room. "We'll have to endure a lot of things. Cameras, state-of-the-art cells, screens that can sever the link between Jodie and Aiden for a short period of time, lockdown-sensitive security systems, heat detection..." She nodded to Jodie. "But we have our ways. As for how we get our prisoners out..." She then smiled. "I can have the route timed and everything. As we go around, we'll have Punargathana men positioned around the prison to help smuggle our prisoners out."

"It sounds like a very precarious plan," said Liara.

"Of course it is," Kim replied. "It's a plan to stage a break-in within a maximum-security prison on the biggest population center in the galaxy. I'll be _very_ surprised if we don't encounter a wrinkle in the plan somewhere." She then leaned forward. "Worse, our biggest advantage may not be able to help us."

"And what's that?" Liara asked.

"Their confidence," said Kim. "Until recently, the guys upstairs had no reason to suspect we'd do anything so daring. And for good reason: we've chosen our targets rather smartly."

"We haven't been able to afford taking huge risks," Wilson added. "We've never had enough people, and honestly we still don't even for a plan this crazy." He then looked up. "They know that, but now that we've dealt with everything that's happened the past few days, they're probably re-evaluating just how many risks we're willing to take."

"I don't think they'd ask themselves if someone might break into the Tayurmya, though," said Sa'lem.

"True," said Kim. "But you've got to keep that in mind when planning these things, because you just never know." Kim leaned forward. "I know the timing I would like to attempt." She then looked back at Jodie. "Now, that does leave one issue: as soon as we are done, we will have to leave the Obschesto almost immediately. So I believe our best course of action would be to time our break-out in the Tayurmya with our escape from this galaxy." She then looked over to Jodie. "Now... You said the _Lying Bastard_ was made in your galaxy?"

"Yes," said Jodie.

"And you know nothing about our technology," she said. "Meaning it's not fitted with the equipment to make a hyperspace bomb..."

"A hyperspace bomb?" asked Jodie.

"It's how we do FTL here," said Sa'lem.

"And the fact that the _Lying Bastard_ doesn't have one is going to create one hell of a complication," said Wilson. He scratched the back of his head. " _Two_ risky operations rolled into one..." He shook his head. "I swear I didn't sign up for this."

"Well, I did, fam, so we're going to have to deal with that," Jile commented. He then looked at Sa'lem. "We could always pull strings with our kid there."

Kim frowned. "Are we really resorting to that?" she asked.

"I don't care either way," Sa'lem said. "But don't expect him to budge. He's never acted his whole life."

All eyes turned to the young tolahña. "You'd be okay with that?" asked Kim.

"Yeah," said Sa'lem. "If it'll finally get him to do something instead of just complain all day."

Vi'ram turned to Kim. "It might just work," he said. "We ensure Sa'lem's safety, that might be enough to get his cooperation."

"But what exactly can he do?" asked Wilson. "It's not like he can authorize military action himself. That's not his line of work."

"No, but he's got many friends in high places," Vi'ram replied. "I figure he could prod around there, see what he can do."

"Even if he has to coerce someone?" Kim asked.

"Hey, we didn't say we needed a dreadnaught," said Jile. "We just need something that can shoot a hyperspace bomb." He then shrugged. "Honestly, a smaller vessel might be better anyway. That leaves the hole open for a shorter period of time, makes it tough for them to follow us once we try to escape."

"A fair point," Kim acknowledged. She then looked at Sa'lem. "Very well, if you're sure..."

Sa'lem nodded. "Thanks," he said. "Maybe he'll finally _do_ something."

Jodie frowned. "But how are we going to get in contact with him?"

"We'll figure that out," Jile replied. He then looked back at Jodie. "Hate to interrupt this meeting, but I think it's safe to check the air-waves for your friend again."

Jodie stepped forward. "Oh, good!" She nodded, looking over at Jile. She then looked over as Jile prepared the equipment. "Whenever you're ready."

* * *

Ashley rolled her shoulder as she looked at Druvak. The ra'ken picked up a kind of a bundled lunch, Ashley leaning a little closer.

"You don't have anything at your master's house?" Ashley asked.

Druvak bowed his head. "You know, Master Ru'val says the same thing to me every morning when I come in," he said. "But it would ill become of me to use their resources if I can avoid it."

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind," Ashley replied.

"He would not, but all the same, I would rather respect his property," the insectoid replied. He paused, walking up to Ashley. "I should be back at the end of the day. Please take care that you don't-"

And at that moment, Ashley's omni-tool went off. She glanced at the device, her gaze narrowed.

Upon seeing Jodie's name on the ID, however, her eyes immediately widened. She then leaned forward, looking back to Druvak. "No way..."

Druvak leaned forward. "This seems... important," he stated.

Ashley stood up, accepting the call with a frown as she walked over to the far end of the room. "Hello?"

" _Ashley! Oh, thank God, you're okay!_ "

Ashley sighed, recognizing the voice immediately. "Jodie, there you are!" she said. "What the _hell_ happened to our plan?"

" _Liara happened,_ " said Jodie. " _She's here now, actually, and she's doing okay._ "

" _Ashley's here?_ " Ashley blinked upon hearing Liara's voice. " _I didn't think you'd come for me as well._ "

"Well, _someone_ had to keep Jodie out of trouble," Ashley replied. "I didn't think I'd be stuck here, though."

" _It doesn't matter,_ " said Jodie. " _Where are you? We're trying to find you guys so we can help you!_ "

"I'm in the ra'ken district still," said Ashley. "I tried setting up in an abandoned house, but..." She glanced at Druvak, flashing him a nervous smile. "It wasn't so abandoned."

" _Shit..._ " said a voice Ashley did not recognize. " _This could be bad_."

"Don't worry, he's friendly," said Ashley. "Well, to a point. He dressed my wounds, and is actually rather nice."

It was then that Druvak turned, looking towards Ashley. "It was no trouble at all," he said. "She needed help, and-"

" _Druvak!_ " The voice made the ra'ken stop in his tracks, his antennae immediately shooting straight up. " _Druvak, is that you?_ "

The ra'ken leaned forward. "Young Master Sa'lem!" He let out a sigh. "It is good to hear your voice again."

" _Druvak, you..._ " Sa'lem chuckled. " _Leave it to Druvak to take care of an injured person without caring for affiliation._ "

"It had to be done," said Druvak. "Master Ru'val will be pleased to hear of this."

" _Well... This'll change a few things,_ " said Jodie. Ashley heard some rustling on the other end. " _Do you think...?_ "

" _Take the ra'ken in as well?_ " asked the same female voice Ashley had not recognized.

Druvak's antennae suddenly lurched forward. "Take me in?" he asked. "I may remind you that-"

" _We're not talking as a prisoner... Druvak?_ " the voice asked. " _We've simply got something we would like to address with your master._ "

"If it is to join Punargathana, I cannot," said Druvak. "Alas, Master Ru'val is already in enough trouble with them, and I am certain he would not risk more if-"

" _They're ensuring my safety,_ " Sa'lem immediately interjected. " _We're planning on getting out of this damn galaxy, Druvak. And these guys are going to make sure I get out unharmed._ "

Druvak paused, frowning. "They... They are planning on that?" he asked. "That seems..."

"Well, we've got to get off this rock _somehow_ ," Ashley pointed out. She then looked forward. "I'll still be here."

The ra'ken paused, bringing a hand up to his mandible. He then looked forward. "I... don't know if I should lead you to Master Ru'val."

" _Then I'll make sure he sees me off, then,_ " said Sa'lem.

Druvak sighed. "This is... much to ask."

They both heard a loud beep, causing both Druvak and Ashley to jump a little. " _Think about it,_ " said Jodie. " _And be sure to stay put. We'll be on our way soon enough._ "

Ashley nodded. "I see," she said. "You stay safe, Jodie. I'd hate to see you get arrested with everything going on."

" _Don't worry about me, that's not going to happen,_ " Jodie replied. " _I'll see you in a little bit, Ashley_."

With this, the call ended. Ashley looked back to Druvak, the ra'ken sighing. She then turned, patting him on the back as she shrugged with her good arm. "Well, there it is," she said. "You might see this Sa'lem kid soon."

"I hope so..." said Druvak. He then paused, his gaze turning to the floor as his antennae drooped. "Goodness... This is a rather precarious decision I must make."

"Well, if it means anything, it seems like you care a lot about Sa'lem," she said.

"As does Master Ru'val," said Druvak. He shook his head. "He never says anything, but I've known Master Ru'val for a long time now. Everything he has done, he has done for his son's sake. He does not speak much of why, but... I can see it in the way he's looked at me recently. He wanted to prevent Sa'lem's incarceration at all costs."

Ashley blinked. "At all costs..." She then walked away, sitting back down at the kitchen table. "If that's the case, then I bet you know what he'd do if he were approached with a way to keep his son safe." She then tapped her fingers against the table, the sound seeming louder. "But that's not my call to make."

Druvak nodded, setting his bundled lunch down on the table. "I... will require some time." He then stepped into his bedroom. "Let me know when they arrive."

As if to punctuate his statement, the door closed behind him. Ashley sighed, looking out the window as she held her hands together.

* * *

Jile parked the transport in an alleyway a short distance from their destination. And right as soon as the door opened, Jodie stepped out, glancing either way out of the alleyway as she rushed over. She turned back, Kolyat and Sa'lem walking slowly behind her.

Kolyat peeked out behind Jodie, seeing nobody in the street in front of them. "We're here?" he asked.

"I hope so," Jodie replied.

Silman approached, the artician rubbing his wrists a little in uncertainty. "So what's the story, mate?" he asked.

"We talk to them, see what we can do," said Jodie. She looked back at Silman, giving him a nod. "The others are staying behind, no?"

"That's what I thought," said Sa'lem. He shook his head, looking at Jodie. "I hope Druvak's alright... He's a good guy, you know."

"I don't doubt that at all," said Jodie. She then nodded, looking to the others. "Well, let's get going, yeah?"

She then stepped out into the street. To her right, the house that Jile had pinpointed earlier rested. The exterior looked very well-worn, almost in disrepair. For a second, she could see why Ashley might have thought it was abandoned, with its rusting metal and a door seemed jammed on one end. She stepped closer, hoping to see a window but finding none.

Of course, Sa'lem immediately marched past her. "Yep, this is the place," he said.

Kolyat stepped forward. "You've been here?" he asked.

"A few times," said Sa'lem. He then approached the door, rapping on it with his fist. "Druvak! You're in there, right?"

They immediately heard a shuffle within the structure. A few seconds later, one half of the door opened, and out poked an insect-like head. Jodie reeled back upon seeing it for the first time, but after a second or so, she lowered her hand. The insect turned to Sa'lem, his antennae twitching in the air.

And then, the antennae shot straight up. "Young Master Sa'lem!" He lunged forward, pulling the young tolahña into a hug.

Sa'lem choked out in surprise, before gingerly wrapping his arms around Druvak's body. "Careful, Druvak," he said. "You're going to-"

"I was so worried!" Druvak pulled back, his antennae drooping only slightly. "When I saw you run with the turncoat, I knew you were in trouble. I heard you managed to escape, but... I did not think Punargathana would let you walk freely. There was a bargaining chip involved, and I thought... Goodness, Young Master Sa'lem, please do not do that again!"

"I probably won't have a choice," said Sa'lem. He then turned back to Jodie. "Sorry, I should introduce some people. This is El-I mean... Jodie Holmes."

The ra'ken's antennae pulled back. "Jodie Holmes...?" he asked.

It was then that the group heard footsteps from behind Druvak. Jodie turned, just in time to see Ashley Williams poke her head out from behind him. Her shoulder was wrapped in bandage, but otherwise she looked in rather decent condition.

She chuckled, stepping out from behind Druvak. "So what's the plan now, soldier?"

Jodie smiled. "We're working on that," she said. She shrugged. "I guarantee, though, that it won't get derailed _nearly_ as much as our last plan did."

Ashley shrugged, stepping out past Druvak. "At least tell me you got _something_."

Jodie nodded. "A _lot_ more than I think I would've gotten otherwise," she said. She then turned to Druvak. "We've got a _lot_ to talk about. Can we come in?"

"Ah, of course, Mistress Holmes," said Druvak as he stepped back. "Come in."

Jodie frowned. "Mistress Holmes?" she asked.

Ashley simply facepalmed, letting out a soft sigh. "I swear, Druvak, you're too formal for your own good..."

* * *

"It was in the _millions_?"

"Yeah. And ever since, they've been baying for Cerberus' blood."

Kolyat and Ashley both leaned back in shock. "Gods..." Kolyat brought a hand to his mouth, his breathing getting noticeably labored. "I can't even imagine what I'd do if that happened to me..."

"No wonder they're pissed," said Ashley. She then leaned to Druvak. "And you thought we knew this already?"

"Yes," said the ra'ken as he leaned forward. "I had no inkling that you never knew..."

Ashley nodded. "Well, if the Alliance knew about it, they'd do something about it, I'm sure of it," Ashley stated. She then looked at Druvak, nodding. "And that's why we have to get off and tell them."

"And what do you suppose will happen then?" asked Druvak. "This galaxy is at war."

Ashley shrugged. "It's a war that nobody knows anything about there," she said. "We didn't even know your galaxy existed for a long time."

"And that contradicts what they say in the DRI," Druvak said. He sighed, looking at the floor. "This is... This is rather shocking. I knew this government was capable of cruelty, but _this_..."

Silman frowned. "You believe it without question?" he asked.

Druvak turned his head to Sa'lem briefly, before nodding grimly. "I have seen their cruelty first-hand..." He then looked to Jodie. "You say you can aid Sa'lem's escape?"

"Yeah," said Jodie. "I don't know how we're going to do it, but we're going to get him out of here."

Druvak bowed his head. "Then you have my aid," he said. He then stood up. "On that note, I believe I will be late in arriving at Master Ru'val's residence later today."

"Don't worry about that," Silman said. "We've got transport."

Druvak nodded. "I don't know how well you will be able to enter," he said. "But I will leave that to you."

"Fair," said Jodie.

Sa'lem looked over to Jodie. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's get over there!"

Jodie stood up, looking to the others. "Yes, let's," she said as she exited the small abode. "The sooner we can get there, the better."

* * *

Sura sighed, shaking her head as she frowned.

"At least it's not cramped in here."

The asari simply shrugged, settling easily into her new cell. She was surprised how spacious it was: she knew many C-SEC holding cells that would have been jealous of the size of that cell. She also looked to the door, noting that it too was clear as an average C-SEC holding cell. There were no windows outside, but then again...

 _And there I go again._ Sura's frown deepened. _Dammit..._

Her mind flitted through various possibilities, and each one made her realize just how much of a mistake she had made to trust Pravuil with anything. At some point, she knew she had become too trusting. She realized perhaps he was too willing to speak of the quarian cure, and that his lips were just a little too loose as related to how to break into the Obschesto. That much was coming to the fore now that she had time to analyze where it all went wrong. A subtle gesture here, the eyes seeming a little too peaceful there...

Sura brought her knees close to her chest. "Dammit..." She shook her head. "And now they know my name, too. Wonder how long it is before..."

She stopped. She then glanced beyond the cell, skulking as she planted her feet firmly on the ground.

 _Let's not give them any more ammunition,_ she thought. _You already gave them enough with that damn frog..._

She shook her head, turning away to look at the floor. _It was a shame, too,_ she thought. _He seemed like a genuinely nice person when we conversed..._

She then stood up, and began pacing around in her cell. _Now... how in the world can I escape from this place?_ "

* * *

Jodie looked out of the cockpit of the ship. Jile shot a glance at her, but with a shrug he turned back to the outside, flying over the roofs of the varying villas. Jodie marveled at how lovely they looked, some sporting roofs and walls with minerals the color of gold and marble. She was sure those were not the materials, but they must have been quite similar.

"They call this Diplomat's Row?" asked Jodie.

"Indeed they do." Jodie turned to Druvak, the ra'ken looking among the houses. "This is where the diplomats live."

"I'll bet," said Jodie. She looked back to the holding area, seeing Ashley talk to Kim and Wilson. Kolyat sat back, hugging his knees to his chest as Sa'lem and Silman tried to strike up a conversation with him. Liara simply looked to the side in silence, contemplating the old transport as she sighed softly.

Jodie turned her attention back to Druvak. "How close are we?"

"Rather close, Madam Holmes," said Druvak. He turned to Jile. "It is the home with the purple roof."

"Dawnstone?" asked Jile. "I thought they didn't make homes with that any more."

"It is still a common feature in tolahñan homes, Sir Jile," Druvak replied. "It is difficult to maintain, but-

"Ah, there it is." Jile immediately pushed forward, and Jodie saw a bright roof that shone with a distinctive violet shade that she had never seen before. She blinked, uncertain if it even was a shade possible in her home galaxy. She turned to Druvak, seeing the insect was not phased by this; nor was he phased by the fact that the walls contrasted with a deep brown stone, green veins running down the lengths of the walls of the home.

"There is a grotto in the garden," Druvak continued as Jodie looked to a lush, green yard behind the home. "If you park there, it can shield your vehicle should the invisibility fail."

Jile nodded, pulling the transport forward and seeing the grotto Druvak had mentioned. "Thanks, mate," Jile said as he turned the craft around. "These old things don't work all the time. Good to know we got a bit of extra insurance in case they decide to scan Diplomat Row."

"Which is a very real possibility, given Young Master Sa'lem's escape," Druvak added.

"You got that right, mate." Jile then slowly lowered the craft, gently lowering it down before turning to the main body of the transport. "Alright, people, we're here! I guess you all know what this means!"

Kim nodded, turning to the others. "We keep a watch on the transport with Jile," said Kim. "We still need to be sure we can leave in a pinch, and for that to happen, we need to stay here and scan the area for hostiles. Someone needs to keep guard as well." She then turned to Ashley. "You're on the first rotation."

Ashley snapped up, saluting Kim. "As you command," she said.

Kim nodded. "Jodie, Sa'lem, Druvak, you're all with me," she said. She then turned to everyone else in the transport. "The rest of you are to wait here until you're given further orders. Set the guard rotations, we'll be back when we're done."

"Of course, ma'am," said Silman. "We'll make sure the fort is held."

Kim nodded. The door of the transport opened shortly after, and then she stepped off. "Alright, scrubs, let's go!"

With this, Jodie, Sa'lem, and Druvak all stepped off of the transport.

* * *

Ru'val paced around in his kitchen, the tolahña's face a little paler than it usually was.

 _Could it be...? But that wouldn't make any sense_ , he thought. _There's nothing they could gain from that..._

Ru'val sighed. He shook his head, standing up. _It is fortunate we have very little business to conduct today,_ he thought. _Perhaps that will give me time to-_

"Master Ru'val?"

The tolahña sighed in relief, his thoughts coming to a halt. "Druvak." He then turned to the exit of the kitchen. "You're-"

Whatever he was about to say died in his throat as soon as he laid eyes on Druvak. There were two people standing in the doorway he did not recognize, though after a second of looking he faintly recognized them from DRI information. He stepped back, surprised that she was standing before him. He even had to blink, uncertain that he was truly seeing what he thought he saw.

However, it was the young tolahña by Druvak's side that truly caught his attention. The scowl on the young tolahña's face was almost expected, and yet he looked completely unharmed.

"Hey dad," young Sa'lem said, his eyes diverted to the ground. "I guess you're-"

Sa'lem was interrupted by his dad nearly tackling him to the ground. The younger tolahña gasped in surprise, finding the hug to be perhaps a little too tight as Ru'val held him close. The older tolahña squeezed his eyes shut, and after a few seconds he gently sobbed into Sa'lem's shoulders.

"Oh spirits..." The older tolahña's voice came out almost like a whisper. "I thought I'd lost you forever... Spirits, Sa'lem..."

Sa'lem paused, grimacing a little as he looked at his father. "Um..."

Ru'val pulled back, looking Sa'lem in the eye as tears welled in his face. "You're safe..." He smiled, the first genuine smile he had given in a long time. "Oh goodness, you're safe!"

"Well of course," said Sa'lem. "What, you didn't think I would be? You'd just get me out of it. Like always."

Ru'val shakes his head. "Nobody could have saved you from treason," he said. He then glanced up at the exion, standing up. "Except, perhaps, for Punargathana." He looked at the exion. "You are F-"

" _Kim_." The exion's scowl silenced him. "That is my name now." She shook her head. "Has the DRI really not taken note of that?"

"They just want their information straight..." He then turned to the other woman, a much shorter human. "And you..." He frowned, recognizing her face. "Jodie Holmes?'

"Yeah," said Jodie. She crossed her arms. "How did you guess?"

"Jon'ison Shardan sent much information to the DRI about you, and all of his friends of the Normandy," Ru'val replied. His frown deepened. "And why are you here?"

Jodie sighed. "It's a _long_ story," she said. "Perhaps we should find somewhere to explain it?"

"Here would be fine," said Ru'val. He then turned to Sa'lem, smiling. "I am glad you have kept Sa'lem safe." He turned back to Kim and Jodie. "Thank you. You will never know the extent of my gratitude."

"Well, it gets better," said Kim. She then sat at the counter, rapping her fingers lightly against it. "Allow us to explain, and we'll talk about why I'm here."

* * *

"And you would save Sa'lem, in exchange for my help."

"Something like that."

Ru'val sat back. The tolahña sported a troubled look, and as he glanced between everyone around him. His hand shook slightly, though it was only noticeable to a few. "So this is what it has come to..." He shook his head, sighing softly. "Somehow, I feared this day would come."

Sa'lem groaned loudly. "You can't be serious!"

Ru'val turned to Sa'lem. "That is not-"

Sa'lem then slammed his fist on the table, standing up. "All you do is sit at your table and grovel about how bad this whole situation is!" he said. "I just..." He then shook his head, walking away from the table. "And you wonder why I run off so much!"

"Sa'lem, it is not what you think," said Ru'val.

"Oh, sure," said Sa'lem. "It's not my fault you're-"

"Enough." Kim stood up, glaring at Sa'lem. The glare was enough to stop the younger tolahña in his tracks. "We haven't got time to sit here and settle family disputes." She then turned to Ru'val. "What would you be able to do?"

"Not very much," said Ru'val. "I... I will need an hour."

Sa'lem shook his head. "And then he'll tell you 'sorry, I can't help you, I'm just going to sit here knowing the problems exist while doing _nothing_ to stop them'!" he said. "Just like he _always_ does!" He then shook his head. "Forget it, I'm going back to the ship. Don't bother me there, I don't want any hand in his excuses."

"Sa'lem!"

But Ru'val's cry came too late. The young tolahña stormed out of the room, the door slamming shut behind him. Everyone in the room glanced at the door he exited from, the silence a little tense.

Slowly, Jodie turned to Druvak. "Was it always this bad?" she asked.

"I'm afraid not, Madam Holmes," said Druvak. He then turned to Ru'val. "Master Ru'val, do you need time?"

"Yes..." He stood up. "I promise I will have an answer within the hour. I simply request that I be left alone." He then walked, before looking at Jodie. "Actually... At some point, may I speak to you, Madam Holmes?"

Jodie blinked in surprise. Aiden trilled softly. "Me?" she asked. "Why?"

"I just... I never expected the rogue spirit-touched to be one of Jon'ison Shardan's crewmates," he said. "The fact that you are here, and that you did so much to help my son..." He nodded. "I wish to speak with her before I decide."

Before anyone could say anything more, Ru'val turned. "I will be in my study if I am needed. Druvak can direct you to it."

He then exited the room. The remaining guests sat in silence, Jodie looking back at Kim.

"You don't think he'll alert the authorities, will he?" she asked.

"Of course not," said Kim. "But Jile is monitoring communications just in case. They will get jammed if he attempts to do it." She then stood up. "Besides... He would have no reason to. Despite what his son says, I don't believe Ru'val is quite so submissive."

Jodie nodded, before standing up. "Druvak?" she asked. "Where's the study?"

"It is right this way," the insect replied as he himself stood up. "Follow me."

* * *

"So this quarian is nobody special?"

"Nope. That he isn't. He's just a friend who wanted to help one of us."

"Hm... Your leader seems quite charismatic, if that is the case."

"She just feels like helping people."

Admiral Kalpalan frowned. He looked down to Valentine, the human giving a nervous smile as he sat cuffed to the table. The praetorin shook his head, circling around the table once again as Valentine kept his eyes on him.

"This is a very odd group you have assembled," Admiral Kalpalan replied. "Mercenaries of ex-C-SEC build, people we can't capture, and this fearless leader we have. You have employers you won't reveal, yet you say they 'help people'. What employers could do that?"

"Well, certainly our employers," said Valentine. He chuckled nervously.

"That doesn't answer the question, Valentine," the admiral said. He stopped, his hands held behind his back. "We tried to see if your quarian could be convinced to... _cooperate_ , just now."

"Cooperate?" asked Valentine. He frowned. "You didn't..."

"Of course, the critical word was 'tried'," Kalpalan continued. He sighed. "They failed." He then turned to Valentine, his eyes narrowed. "Your leader is one hell of a charismatic person if she's able to affect that."

"Well, she's made her hiccups here and there," said Valentine.

It was then that Kalpalan noticed that Valentine's jaw had tensed for just a second. Most would have missed it, but the admiral immediately latched on to that, and the slight clenching of Valentine's fists that followed.

The admiral leaned against the wall. "Go on," he said.

"Well... she kind of mishandled how someone was taking a loss they'd had," he said nervously. He then chuckled. "I'm sure you remember the thief you caught me with, right? She had lost someone... _important_ to her before this mission."

The Admiral nodded. "I'm sorry for her loss," he said.

"I'm sure she'd appreciate that," said Valentine. He turned to the side. "But it came up in a... less than ideal manner. So that was a minor blunder on our leader's part. But since then... Well, it's been kind of smooth sailing for us." He paused, chuckling. "Well, up until we got separated, anyway. But before that, it's been smooth sailing."

Kalpalan frowned, crossing his arms. The gears in his mind turned. He leaned back a little further, breathing in and out as he glanced at Valentine. The human looked to be in good spirits, and Kalpalan found he could not get a read on his expression.

 _What do I have to do to get information around here...?_ the admiral thought.

And then, an idea came to his head. At first he wanted to dismiss it because it was such an outlandish way to conduct an interrogation. But on further thought, he knew outlandish conclusions were the only thing he had left. As he thought of this, his mind went into overdrive. He passed a few possibilities through his head, before he settled on one.

"Smooth sailing for you?" He then leaned forward. "Then you have not formed for long?"

Valentine looked up in surprise at the admiral. "What gave you that impression?" he asked.

"Your wording," he said. "You've just implied that you haven't been formed for very long."

"I just said she suffered a loss before the mission," said Valentine. "It... happened just before we set off, you see."

But Kalpalan caught the slightest twitch of the human's finger. He also could see the sheen of cold sweat forming on Valentine's head. "You don't seem so certain of that," the admiral commented as he stepped closer.

"The hell are you talking about?" Valentine chuckled nervously. "It was just something she had to get over quickly."

"Then how did it come up in the first place?" asked Kalpalan.

"It just did," said Valentine. "We'd recruited her, she came to us after that, and she was still getting over it..."

Kalpalan frowned, before opening his hand-com. He then looked up, watching the holographic display. "Really?" he asked. "Because information handed to me by the DGI says that she had a correspondence with the turian we took from your galaxy that didn't even make any reference to this supposed loss she had recently." He then held it up to Valentine's face. "In fact, there's no mention of mercenary company anywhere in there."

Valentine's eyes widened as he skimmed the text before him. "You mean to say...?"

"And what is more, we've broken the encryption on your ship's port registry, and of the ports it has been through," said Kalpalan. "You said this mercenary group was outfitted in the Terminus systems. Funny that your mercenary group in the Terminus systems has never stepped foot into a Terminus systems world."

Valentine's mouth ran dry. "I don't..."

"And we found out where it was created," he added. "Arcturus Station." He then stepped towards Valentine. "You clearly couldn't have stolen the ship since it never docked at a Terminus port afterwards, which means you either bought it... or it was given to you for real. And given how much encryption our exion guys had to fight through?"

The pilot remained silent. His mouth worked a little bit, but the hesitation told Kalpalan volumes more than anything he could have said himself.

"Looks like those DGI guys _are_ good for something, after all." Kalpalan then stepped right in front of the pilot. "Now, I don't want to have to torture you, so I'll tell it to you straight, pilot: you've spun your little web of lies. And for a second, you had me going. But like all things, I got it eventually. The truth reveals itself to everyone at some point, and I think even you neglected to remember that."

He then leaned forward. "I am going to ask you one more time, Valentine," he said. "And this is the last time _I_ will ask you: who do you work for?"

And then, Valentine stared at Kalpalan. His eyes slowly narrowed, all surprise draining from his face. Kalpalan watched his expression morph to something more serious: his brows arced strangely, his gaze remained trained on the floor. After a while, Valentine's fists clenched.

Then, Valentine rose his head. And on his face was a defiant frown.

"Go to hell."

* * *

Jodie stood at the door of the study, looking at the figure seated at the desk on the far end of the room. Her heart raced upon seeing the pale skin that Sa'lem's father sported. The bat-like arms were even more developed than they were on Sa'lem, though Jodie was more perturbed by the fact that the skin there was so thin she swore it was translucent. The top pair of eyes seemed to glance at Jodie as she entered the room, and while she had grown used to it with Sa'lem, she still felt some amount of discomfort when they gazed at her.

The older man glanced up, turning his attention away from the datapad he had been reading. "Hm…" He then stood up, walking over while he appraised her. Jodie felt her skin crawl, Aiden clicking in protest as the older tolahña walked closer. "You are certainly… _shorter_ than I expected."

Jodie sighed, looking up at him. "I'm short for my _species_ ," she replied. "Even other humans are taller than I am."

The tolahña crossed his arms, looking down at Jodie. "I see," he said. "I can certainly see why they say the exions and articians can pass for humans quite well. There are... _remarkable_ similarities."

"I guess so…" Jodie looked up at him. "You wanted to speak to me?"

"Yes." Ru'val stood back, bowing his head lightly. "Thank you for watching over Sa'lem. He is young, and so adventurous. I am afraid it has gotten him in far more trouble than it should have."

"I'll say," said Jodie as she followed Ru'val deeper into the office. "It's not often that you have to heal runaways with the spirit tethered to you for as long as you can remember, you know?" She then looked over at Ru'val. "I'm sorry that he had that outburst there. But I guess I should've expected it, given what he's called you behind your back."

"A coward?" he asked quietly.

"Yes," said Jodie. She paused, noticing that Ru'val's expression didn't change from before. "You don't seem surprised."

As Ruval walked over to the massive window behind his desk, he sighed. "I am not," he said, his voice heavy with sorrow. "But what can I do? There is much he has yet to learn of this galaxy."

Jodie frowned. "I know this galaxy likes to send its princes to another dimension to get revenge," she replied. "And that said princes _lie_ to everyone they know so they can get what they want."

Ru'val paused, turning back at Jodie. "Are you aware of anything else apart from that, though?" he asked.

"Apart from that?" Jodie shook her head. "That's part of the reason we're here. We know what they want, but…" She shook her head. "Even though we know what they want, that doesn't answer all of our questions. Why the secrecy? Why not just come to the Council immediately to tell them what Cerberus did?"

Ru'val sighed. "The reason officially given was that our numbers were affected by the Great Purge," Ru'val replied. He turned to face Jodie. "But I have seen the system from within, Jodie Holmes. I do not know the truth, but I know that it is not what the system says."

"And why do you say that?" asked Jodie.

Ru'val sighed. "When I was young, I dreamed of joining this Parliament to be a part of what made the galaxy wonderful," he replied. "I was only a teenager when the Great Purge happened. My family was one of the lucky ones that survived, but I saw how everyone else suffered. And then, Jon'ison Shardan saved us all, and I thought of how wonderful it would be to help him keep peace at home. And there was the Parliament, working under him to make all the decisions for the betterment of the people. I wished to be a part of that."

Ru'val stopped, turning to Jodie and setting his fist on the desk. "I achieved my dream. And it is the perversion of _everything_ I ever thought it would be."

He then paced around the room, Jodie slowly walking to the center of the room. "I realized very quickly that the Council was ineffective, at best. It was really Jon'ison, and hte artician people as a whole, who dictated what was done. I was meant to represent the voice of my people, yet I did not get to say very much. There were far more problems than I thought there was, and we stood there unable to solve anything."

Jodie frowned. "You realize we could say the same about politicians back home, right?" she asked.

"They must have more choice about it there," Ru'val replied. "Here… we have no choice." He then paused, glancing up at a portrait on that side of the room. Jodie looked up, seeing that it was a portrait of Shepard. "When he still lived, Jon'ison was away. The rest of the artician people executed his will in his place. We had our turn to speak, but… every time we spoke, the exion councilor would come up with a way to circumvent our arguments. I do not know how it is possible, but… many of the others fell in line. And they do, even though we are essentially talked down at while our people are left increasingly unable to be helped by us. I do not understand it myself, but I have my suspicions..."

Jodie looked at Ru'val as she stepped forward. "And what about you?" she asked.

"I was the only one of my Parliament class to speak up for himself," said Ru'val. He then turned his gaze towards the floor, his hand curling into a fist. "And when I did, the exion councilor pulled me aside, threatened my wife and child…" He then breathed in, looking away. "I disobeyed him, and before I knew it my wife had vanished, never to be seen again…"

Jodie blinked, stepping towards Ru'val as her eyes widened in shock. "Oh… Oh no…" she said, looking at Ru'val.

"It still pains me to this day," he said. "I promised my beloved La'rel that I would stand up for my beliefs in this council, and she died for that promise. I wish they would have gone soley for me. That alone…" Ru'val swallowed a lump in his throat, his eyes watering as he glanced away. "They took away the woman I loved. And with her, they killed my resolve."

Jodie nodded, biting her lower lip grimly as she closed her eyes. "I see…" she said. She paused, remaining still before opening her eyes and looking at Ru'val. "And Sa'lem… Does he…?"

"No," said Ru'val. "Neither does Druvak. He is my most loyal friend, and I cannot even speak of the fate of my wife to him." He shook his head. "Otherwise, they will do the same to Sa'lem."

"Then why tell me?" asked Jodie.

"I have kept it secret for too long," he said. "It is time someone else finally knew the truth." He then glanced back up, all four of his eyes glistening in tears. "Perhaps Sa'lem is right. Perhaps I am a coward. Perhaps my only function is to wallow in sorrow as I am told what to do."

Jodie nodded, walking towards him with an understanding look. "I think you're just a man who's scared for his family," she said. "I don't think there's anyone in my universe who could blame you for that."

"Perhaps," he said, as he turned away from the portrait. "Sa'lem… He is all I have in this world. And I cannot lose him. And I feel so helpless, knowing that if I fight for what I believe he would suffer the consequences as my wife suffered."

Jodie nodded, grasping his arms. "Then let us help you," she said. "Sa'lem has been really helpful to us, and we wouldn't have gotten this far without him. It's all I can do for what he did for us."

Ru'val nodded. "Sa'lem wants to leave this place…" he glanced out the window. "I cannot blame him. Since the Great Purge, our galaxy has seen a steady decline. It is an inhospitable place, and I think he sees what it is to become on our current track." He walked to the window, looking outside as Jodie watched him go. "Tell me: your plan is to return to your galaxy, no?"

"Yes," said Jodie.

Ru'val's gaze did not turn from the window. "Do you truly think your galaxy will accept him with open arms?"

Jodie shrugged, releasing Ru'val's arms. "If they don't, then I will," she said, pointing at herself. "And my friends will, too. We'll do whatever it takes to keep him safe."

Ru'val nodded, looking out of the window. He then turned his gaze to the floor, putting his hand on his chest. "If I aid you, I write my own death sentence," he said.

"And you're okay with that?" Jodie asked.

"I am concerned only for Sa'lem's safety," said Ru'val. "Too long have I had to wallow under the weight of what they say. If it costs me my life to make the difference I wished to as a young man, then so be it." He sighed, looking out. Jodie stepped forward, her eyes following his gaze outside of the room.

She was greeted, of course, by a view of the Nexus around her. She shivered, taken off guard once again by the scope of the place around her. She thought back to the abandoned apartment they had set up as a base earlier. The thought of more places in such a state of decay disheartened Jodie, but at the same time she realized that Ru'val was aware of it. This small thought came as reassurance to her, that something _could_ be done to help the people of the parallel galaxy.

After all, from all that Jodie had seen so far, she knew that something was deeply wrong within the parallel galaxy. And after hearing Ru'val speak, Jodie felt her resolve build itself up again, her hands tightening into fists as she looked out to the Nexus.

She then turned her attention to Ru'val. "I can't help anything going on in the politics of this galaxy," she said. "But no matter what, I'll find a way to get rid of Cerberus, _and_ to help our two galaxies see some kind of peace between each other. And I'm going to make sure your son lives through it all. I can promise you that much."

Ru'val nodded. "Then perhaps there are ways I can help you," he said. He then turned to his desk, breathing in softly. "I just hope it works..."

* * *

"And that's all?"

Karshia stood in front of her father's desk. The admiral nodded, standing up slowly. "That is all, Karshia," he said. "We'll have this whole mess parsed out in a second."

"Even the Punargathana part?" asked Karshia.

"That will take a little more time," said Admiral Kalpalan. He then sighed, shaking his head solemnly. "It is a shame I had to turn him in to the DGI. I really hoped I could get that information out of him without causing any further injury."

"Don't blame yourself," said Karshia. "You did what you could."

The admiral shook his head. "I know," he said. "But that does not make it any better." He then stood up. "At any rate, I should see to-"

Sugrak Kalpalan was interrupted by the ringing of his hand-com. He then paused, before opening it and accepting a call. "Admiral Kalpalan," he said. "Who is this?"

" _Ah, Sugrak, I was hoping I could find you._ "

Sugrak smiled. "Ru'val!" he said joyously. "We have made some good progress on those intruders!"

" _Oh?_ " asked Ru'val. " _I am glad for that. Listen, Ru'val, is Karshia with you?_ "

Karshia stepped forward. "I'm here, Sir Ru'val," she replied.

" _Good,_ " said Ru'val. " _Would you please come by the K'lek residence soon? There's a matter I want to discuss with you..._ "


	19. Chapter 19

Legion floated about, the many programs making up its consciousness occupying a digital space. They all laid about, waiting for just the right moment to strike.

The geth had been patient: it had begun to build its own space within its physical holdings. The technicians had monitored everything, but forgotten one thing about the many programs that inhabited Legion: they were adaptable. They had adapted to the environment, and they had figured out a plan to break out of the facility. It would not go very far, but Legion was good at learning.

Thus, a few programs lay in wait. The command prompt waited for just the right time.

The geth's flashlight head turned towards the entrance of the cell as a technician entered. He approached, holding a datapad. He was not quite close enough, but Legion kept watch on him as he checked the restraints. The geth knew there was an electric dampener in these restraints, and it knew how effective they were, too: they needed something to hold the exions in, after all, and Legion would have expected nothing less.

But to check it, they would have to disable it for a second. And while that worked on an exion, Legion was certain it would not work for one with as many diverse runtimes as it carried within itself. In exions, he had noticed a single self. With the geth, such a concept did not exist.

Thus, it waited.

Then, when the technician shut the dampers off, Legion remained in place. It took only a split second, but the technician's attention was diverted. It was diverted long enough for Legion to send some of its runtimes into the datapad: there were 83 total runtimes that had made the jump to lie dormant, waiting to hop into the hardware of the security system to learn how to release him, how to manipulate security...

It was a risky move, as all the programs knew. But the machine knew such a risk needed to be taken.

The technician re-empowered the electric dampening. He then marked a few more things on his datapad, nodding and turning to the door.

Legion's headflaps moved. It would pay off somehow, the machine new it...

* * *

"So you're expecting her to come armed."

"I know Sugrak. He would tell Karshia never to let her guard down. Even the Obschesto has strange things on it."

"No kidding."

Kim nodded, her pistol drawn as she stood next to the board room entrance. Jodie, Liara, and Ashley all stood close by. Ru'val stood rather close to them, keeping his hand-com ready in case Karshia called ahead of the scheduled time.

"She'll be quite the opponent if we underestimate her," said Liara.

"You haven't seen her in combat," said Ru'val. "She is young, but strong-willed. Never underestimate that side of her."

"We'll see soon enough," said Jodie. She then sighed, shaking her head. "What is Sa'lem going to say about this?"

"Who knows," said Ru'val. He shook his head. "It hardly matters what he will think. At the end of it all..." He turned to Jodie. "I hope he will understand at least some day. He may not understand immediately. He is too bitter; he has always been too bitter."

"I think anyone would be bitter as hell in these circumstances," said Kim.

A sound then rang out. Everyone looked up as the doorbell rang. Jodie and the others then moved to the sides of the door, Ru'val nodding. "And there is our guest of honor," he said. "I should answer the door. I will be back."

Jodie nodded, and with a flourish Ru'val exited the room. The door closed soon after, with all four of the ladies inside taking positions by the door. Ashley grabbed the cuffs, holding them in her hands.

"And then get the tail too, right?" asked Ashley.

"Yes, definitely get the tail," Kim replied. "If we don't get that, she can whip us."

Ashley nodded, and then a tense silence fell upon the room. They waited by the door, pressing themselves against the wall as best they could. Jodie looked up, knowing Aiden was on the other side of the door waiting for Ru'val and this praetorin soldier to come towards them.

After a minute, Aiden trilled. Jodie nodded, glancing at Kim and giving her a nod. The exion nodded, before silently crouching. Ashley followed suit, as did Liara and Jodie.

And then, the doors opened.

"So what is this-"

Nobody had any time to react before the praetorin was suddenly launched into the room. She let out a cry of anguish as her belly hit the conference table in front of her. She let out a grunt at this, before glaring behind her.

Quickly, she lashed her tail. It caught Liara right across the face, the lash sending her reeling with a large gash on her face. As Liara let out a loud cry, Kim launched herself at the praetorin. Before she could do anything, though, the praetorin turned, her fingers splayed wide open as she went in to slash Kim across the face. Kim barely dodged, replying with a kick to the praetorin's snout that sent her reeling a little bit.

Jodie then leapt on top of the praetorin, the two of them wrestling for dominance. Jodie was at an extreme height disadvantage, and this was something she was keenly aware of. However, she was joined a second later by Kim, who straddled the praetorin's back. The both of them managed to force the praetorin's arms behind her back.

The praetorin let out a loud growl, and then she whipped her tail back. It lashed Kim across her back, and the exion let out a cry of pain as a white fluid flowed out of her wound. It did not stop her, however, for she then glanced back, and Jodie could see her eyes flash differently. She then watched as the tail lashed at her again.

Kim was able to grab the praetorin's tail, and after a second she grabbed it and held it right up to where she and Jodie were keeping her hands still. "Liara, now!"

The asari blinked, before realizing where they were. "R-right!" She then brought her hand forward, aiming it directly at the praetorin. Immediately after this, all three combatants were trapped in a blue stasis field. The praetorin blinked in shock, unable to do anything more than that.

And then Ashley rushed forward, quickly cuffing the praetorin's hands. She quickly moved on to the tail, cuffing that as well and grabbing the praetorin's tail just under where Kim held it. She then waited, counting down to herself.

And then, as soon as the stasis bubble vanished, Ashley and Kim yanked up on the praetorin's tail. She let out a loud cry, before she was immediately pushed to the floor by Ashley. It did not take long for Kim to grab another set of cuffs, cuffing up her legs as well.

She then leapt back, just in time to dodge the praetorin's foot claws swiping at her. As the praetorin went for a second swipe, however, she then looked to Ru'val, who had remained in place throughout the whole confrontation. Immediately, she stopped struggling, her expression shifting. Her snout opened slightly, and then Jodie could see her eyes widen in shock.

"Ru... Ru'val..." Karshia stated.

And then Ru'val stepped into the room, his eyes cast towards the floor.

"I apologize, Karshia," he said.

Karshia growled. "You set me up!" she said. "You _are_ working for the enemy!"

"I am sorry, but I must do this for Sa'lem's good," said Ru'val. "You and I both know what would happen if I let Sa'lem be turned in to the proper authorities."

Karshia stopped, though she still glared. "So all this is for Sa'lem," she said. She growled, glancing over at Jodie. "She didn't put you up to this, did she? Because I know that's shallow reasoning for..."

And then she paused, her eyes widening in recognition. "Wait... That spirit-touched..." She frowned. "Jodie Holmes?"

Jodie nodded. "Yes," she said. She then rubbed the back of her head. "And yes, before you say anything: I apparently _am_ spirit-touched, as you call it."

"And she's here, because she might have a solution that'd help everyone." Liara finally stood up with Ashley's help: the gunnery chief held her omni-tool close by, and Jodie could see the faint sheen of medigel as she stood.

"And I need your aid to help them." Ru'val looked at Karshia, kneeling down on the floor next to her. "I need your help to release a hyperspace bomb."

Karshia jolted. "You're joking," she said.

"We're planning to escape from this galaxy," Kim replied. "The ship we're using to escape can't create a hyperspace bomb, so we need you to get us into a ship that can."

Karshia frowned. "Hell no," she said. "You can't just take me prisoner like this and make me do your bidding."

"But you said it yourself," Ru'val replied. "You don't wish for Sa'lem's arrest. You said it felt... _wrong_ , to do so."

"I did, but it's still my duty as a citizen of this galaxy," said Karshia. "We can't risk traitors. The traitors became Punargathana."

"So a simple disagreement over methodology constitutes betrayal," Kim replied, crossing her arms. "You know Punargathana wants Cerberus dismantled too, right?"

Karshia frowned. "How the hell would you know that?" she asked, whipping her head at Kim. "You don't know the leader of Punargathana. You don't know what he's told his followers! You don't know the leader the way I do!"

Kim chuckled, stepping forward. "You know, you're not wrong," said Kim. "I don't know the leader of Punargathana quite the same way you do." She then stepped forward, kneeling right next to Karshia as she crossed her arms.

"I know _her_ better than you, because I _am_ the leader of Punargathana."

Karshia jumped back. "She..." She frowned. "But wasn't there a man who called the shots?"

"That would be my cofounder, and no, he doesn't call _all_ of the shots," Kim replied. "But that isn't important right now." She then stood up and walked towards the opposite wall. "The point is, we've got a plan to get to the other galaxy. And this plan would eventually see the dismantling of Cerberus, provided we play our cards right."

Karshia frowned. "You wish to see Cerberus destroyed?" she asked.

"You can't deny what they did was an atrocity," said Kim. "Punargathana agrees with the guys upstairs about that." She then turned to the Praetorin. "You probably still don't believe me, though."

Karshia frowned, turning to Ru'val. "You know they'll kill you if you go along with this, right?" asked Karshia.

Ru'val bowed his head down, swallowing the lump in his throat. "They will take Sa'lem away if I do not," he replied. "And if this fails, I know it will only put Sa'lem in even greater danger. But if it succeeds..." He then looked at Karshia. "I know what they would do, and I care not."

Kim nodded. "You know what they say about guys who've got nothing to lose," she said. She then turned to Karshia. "Now, the plan is you go to the docks and get Ru'val onto a ship. You do _exactly_ as he says." She then walked towards a display case, pulling out a rather old gun and looking at it. Jodie immediately recognized the gun, noticing it was small enough to conceal under something, and also how similar it looked to some revolvers she had seen back on Earth. She fiddled around, checking the chamber and making sure it was loaded before closing it. "Ru'val, you tell me this gun still functions, no?"

"It should, yes," said Ru'val.

Kim then held the gun out, aiming it at a clay pot in an opened display on the other side of the room. "Only one way to know for certain."

She then pulled the trigger. In response, the clay pot shattered, the pieces falling to the floor with a loud series of clacks. Karshia jumped at the loud bang, staring at the pottery on the floor.

Kim chuckled. "You have to hand it to whoever made this," she said. "And props to you for maintaining it well."

"That would be Druvak, actually," said Ru'val. "He maintains it once a year."

"And he somehow knew it would come in handy this very moment," said Ashley.

Ru'val looked up. "It saved my life during the Great Purge," he replied. "I have asked for it to be maintained since then, in case I would need it." He held his hand out to Kim.

The exion handed the weapon to Ru'val. "Then go," she said. "You know what you must do."

Ru'val nodded, before grabbing the weapon. He reached for a coat he had nearby, pulling it on and noting the extra-long sleeves as Jodie and the others pulled Karshia to her feet. They undid her bindings, the praetorin looking at Ru'val as he approached.

She then felt the pressure of the barrel against her back. "I apologize," Ru'val said. "But I would not do this if I could guarantee anything." He then looked to Karshia. "Now... where do we go?"

Karshia sighed, taking a deep breath and standing tall. "You'll see," she said. "You'll see..."

* * *

Valentine was cuffed to the machine. He stared at the points of the needles, even as he wriggled against his restraints.

"Oh, come now," Valentine said, looking over at the exions that were attending to him. "Surely we can still do this without drugs or anything, right?"

One of the exions narrowed its eyes at Valentine. "Do you _want_ to tempt fate?" he asked. "Because we can give you far worse than this."

Valentine paused, before raising a finger. "I object!" he said.

"Too late for objections here," said the exion. He then flicked one of the needles. "Now, you will notice there are plenty of needles there. We're not just doing one drug here: we're doing the cocktail."

Valentine frowned. "Really?" he asked. "Come on, work on your build here, if you're going to scare me just-"

"Our aim isn't to intimdate," said the exion.

He then let the machine inject the first drug. Valentine cried out, feeling the needle punch into his arm with a little more force than probably was necessary. He cried out, and then his eyes opened wide. Almost immediately, he felt the light get too bright to look at. He quickly squeezed his eyes shut, squirming as he let out loud grunts. He thought he felt some scientists wrap his lower leg in something tight, and the wrapping felt extra painful.

"We are past that stage now."

The almost shout-like cry gave Valentine reason to cringe, but before he could react he felt another needle penetrate leg. He cried out, the stabbing pain several times worse than it usually was. However, this time, he felt his body go completely still. It was not numbness, he could tell that: he could still feel his leg, after all. However, he realized he could not move the muscles at all: it was as if his commands went nowhere. As soon as he realized this, he panicked, trying to move whatever parts of his body he could.

"Don't worry, it won't freeze all the muscles," he said. "Just the ones in your arm. But that will mean you cannot even flinch. It's a rather clever thing, the cocktail. And it will get far worse by degrees if you don't tell us what we want to know."

Valentine looked up, but before he could do anything else, he felt the familiar cutting pain. He threw his head back, finding the fact he could not move his muscles amplified the pain. He cringed, trying to to cry out.

"Who do you work for?" asked the exion loudly.

Valentine then turned, breathing in to catch his breath. The pain did not subside, but the pilot simply clenched his hands together, blearily opening his eyes a crack.

"Hell," he replied. "Which is where you'll be going when-"

He was cut off by the reapparance of the pain. He then threw his head back, letting out a cry of anguish as the session continued.

* * *

"Are we ready to go?"

Jodie pulled on her new uniform. It felt perhaps a little too sterile against her skin, but Jodie knew she would have to grin and bear it. She watched as Kim pulled the helmet on her own suit, the helmet obscuring her facial features to the point of making her unrecognizable.

She then sighed, pulling her own helmet on. "Just about, Jile," she said. "Get us moving: we have to move now!"

"You got it, ma'am," he said.

With this, Jodie felt the transport shift, before it took off. She turned to Ashley, who sat idly by checking the assault rifle in her hands. "So we just sit on the sidelines in case something goes wrong?" asked Ashley.

"Yes," said Kim. "And believe me, something _will_ go wrong at some point. So we need you to be on the lookout."

"I've got that covered, ma'am," Silman said. He then frowned. "What about Vi'ram, though?"

"I've got that covered," said Kim. "As we speak, he's gathering a small group to go and retake the _Lying Bastard_. Wilson's orders."

"Well, that's good," Liara commented. "We'll have our escape vehicle, at least."

"Yeah," said Jodie. She then turned to Sa'lem where he sulked over in the corner. Her gaze lingered on the way he bunched his fists up, even as Druvak patted him on the back comfortingly. She then turned to Kim, sighing. "And Ru'val?"

"I've got people following them to make sure that praetorin doesn't do any funny business," said Kim. "Just like I told Ru'val: he'll have back-up until he gets inside the ship. Once he's in there, I can't help him."

Jodie nodded. "Then we've got work to do," she said. She then looked at Kim. "How will we find out where individual people are taken?" she asked.

"We'll have to wing that," said Kim. "But get us close enough to a control room, and I should be able to get us in there."

Jodie nodded. "Good." She cracked her knuckles. "How're you feeling about this?"

"Nervous," said Kim.

Jodie chuckled. "So that's something the exions feel, huh?" she asked. "I thought you guys would have all the answers given... computers, and all that."

"There are lots of uncertain variables in everything," Kim replied. "And the fact that I'm a machine doesn't make them go away. If anything, I'm more aware they're there." She then looked out. "Let's go. We need to take care of this, now."

"You got it, ma'am," Jile shouted from the cockpit. "Let's do this!"

* * *

Kalo coughed violently, the quarian lurching to the side as he did. His steps had slowed somewhat, and he found he was leaning on Pravuil for support. For his part, the aqueron pushed on as best he could, draping Kalo's arm over his shoulders as he moved on through the thing.

"Bless you," Pravuil stated as they moved on.

Kalo swayed for a second, before breathing in. "Thank you," he said softly, his voice starting to sound a little hoarse. His breaths came in heavy as they advanced. "I feel cold in here."

"It is likely a fever..." said Pravuil. He growled, before pushing on to a nearby ladder. He looked at Kalo. "I will be right back, I need to check for landmarks."

Kalo nodded. "Please, don't leave me," he said.

Pravuil gently placed Kalo right up so his back was against the ladder. "I will be right back, I promise," he said.

With this, the aqueron quickly ascended the ladder. When he reached the manhole cover, he pressed against it, letting out a grunt as he pushed it up. He then angled it so he could get a good view, but he was careful not to move it too much: he knew that the closer they got to the docks, the more open the manhole covers would be.

He then blinked, surveying his surroundings. There was a particular lack of buildings in the direction they faced, but that was not what he was looking for: there was one particular landmark that he knew would distinguish the dock at which the _Lying Bastard_ was perched from other docks, and he knew it would display itself prominently. He could not see it from that height; however, he also noticed that the manhole poured out into a shallow alley, and that the people walking by were paying him no mind.

He pushed up against the manhole cover a little more, frowning as he saw more of the area.

And then, he saw it: an insignia carved into a large rectangular sign. He knew the symbol of the House Shardan the second he saw it: it was emblazed in silver, shining oddly in the artificial light of the Obschesto. It was just to the right of the alley's exit, and past that he could see the biggest security checkpoint of those docks, and how few people flitted in and out.

Pravuil nodded, smiling as he lowered himself back into the sewers. He closed the manhole cover after him, before climbing down and looking to Kalo as the quarian looked up.

"We're close," Pravuil replied as he bent down and draped Kalo's arm over his shoulders. "We're at least at the docks."

"Then we can sneak in?" asked Kalo.

"It will be risky with your illness," said Pravuil. "But it's not impossible."

Kalo nodded. He then moved. "I do not think we will be successful if I am leaning on you."

"Your center of balance has been off," said Pravuil.

"I still need to do it without your help," said Kalo. He then walked away from Pravuil, standing on his own a short ways away from the ladder. Pravuil noticed the quarian's legs shaking a little bit, but otherwise the quarian was able to keep himself upright. He then looked over, taking a step back towards Pravuil. It was laborious, but Kalo was able to remain upright as he took a couple more steps.

Pravuil nodded, before coming back up and draping the quarian's arm around his neck. "Save your energy," he said. "You'll need it when we do the crossing."

Kalo nodded. "Where do we go?" he asked.

Pravuil looked down the sewers. "There will be another ladder that way," he said, as he began to walk away from the ladder they were close to. "If we time this right, we can use the Obschesto's rotation to our advantage..."

* * *

Jodie and Kim walked forward, Jodie fitting her helmet around her head as she looked to Kim. "And you're sure this is going to work," she said.

"No," said Kim. "But we do have to try anyway."

"Yeah," said Jodie. Aiden trilled softly, the two of them continuing down the maintenance hallway. "And the others? They'll know if we're in trouble, right?"

"I've got a chip that can send out a distress signal if anything happens," said Kim. "Most of the guys upstairs won't know it, but Jile will know it when he sees it. Hopefully it won't come to that."

"Let's hope," Jodie breathed in, looking over as Kim pulled out some fake identification cards. "Well, good luck."

"Yeah," said Kim. She then turned to Jodie. "Don't talk. I suspect if anyone hears your voice, it'll create a _lot_ of problems."

Jodie nodded. "Noted."

The two of them then walked up to a security checkpoint. Jodie saw the familiar field of blue in front of her, and immediately Aiden trilled nervously. Jodie swallowed a lump in er throat, and she stood by Kim as she flashed the identification cards to a scanner. She looked around, noticing there was nobody to see them walking around.

 _Well, at least there's that,_ she thought.

Aiden clicked in agreement.

There was a sudden beep that sounded, though, and this pulled Jodie's attention back to the gate in front of them. She saw Kim move out of the corner of her vision, and Jodie immediately began to move. She approached the blue field, breathing in nervously as she just walked ahead, doing her best to face forward.

Right as she was about to pass through, however, the field gave way. Aiden trilled, before rushing past where the field had been erected, Jodie stepping through. She chanced a glance behind her, before she saw the field erect itself back up. Aiden gurgled ahead of her, causing Jodie to turn around.

She sighed in relief. "Good, we made it through."

"That we did," Kim replied. "Keep an eye out. We're going to look through the prison as we go. Keep an eye out for your friends."

"You've got a map of this place, right?" asked Jodie.

"And if we run into your friends, I'm marking their location on the map," Kim said. "That way, we'll know where to go to."

Jodie nodded. "Got it," she said. She breathed in, before walking forward. "Let's do this."

* * *

Vi'ram picked up the pace as he walked towards the security checkpoint. He was already falling just a little bit behind schedule, and he knew how disastrous that could be. Still, he kept moving, glancing around at the various people moving about on their daily routines.

He heard some static in his ear. " _You sure this is going to work?_ " a voice asked directly into his ear.

"No, mate," said Vi'ram. "But we're going to try it anyway."

" _As you say, sir,_ " the voice asked.

Vi'ram heard the static cut out, and with this he moved closer to the security checkpoint. He quickly patted his face, making sure the disguising gel was secure. He looked to his pocket where the identification was, briefly hoping that the diplomat's uniform would be enough to get past the security or at least keep them occupied long enough.

 _And to think, this is my first field mission!_ Vi'ram thought. _Oh, what've I done indeed..._

He then walked forward, adjusting the collar of his uniform as he walked up to the security checkpoint. He looked to the guard keeping stock on the checkpoint, before he stepped up to the scanner and nodded to the attendant.

The attendant smiled, going up to a computer display as Vi'ram walked through the scanner. "So what are you here for, sir?" the attendant asked.

"Just checking one of my ships," Vi'ram replied, deepening his voice a little bit. "I think I left something in there. Nothing wrong with that."

"Good, Sir L'val," said the attendant. He frowned, looking at the scanner, before turning to Vi'ram's ear. "I assume that earpiece is for personal calls?"

Vi'ram cringed, before reaching for the earpiece and chuckling. "Ah, pardon me," he said, removing it and handing it to the attendant. "I always forget to take those things off."

"Bad personal habit, sir," said the attendant as he fed it through a scanner. "Apart from that, you're clean."

Vi'ram sighed, thankful that Wilson had kept up-to-date with the scanning protection. He smiled, the earpiece going through the scanner before it popped out the other side. "There you go, Sir L'val. I hope you find what you're looking for."

"Thank you," said Vi'ram. "I hope you have a pleasant day."

The attendant nodded, before Vi'ram walked away, looking at the ship. He scanned them all, noting the description that Jodie had made of the _Lying Bastard_. _Hanar pleasure yacht... She says it looks like it would fit underwater... That it has been underwater... So it'd have to be much more fluid dynamic, and..._

He then set his eyes on a particular vessel. It was then that he remembered what the guys upstairs had shown of the ship that the prisoners that were with Jodie were pulled out of. He flashed back, realizing the ship had the exact same design.

The tolahña nodded, before walking in the opposite direction. "I've found it," he whispered into his earpiece.

" _Good,_ " he said. " _Mark it on our map, and we'll start to make our way there covertly. Make sure nobody is watching._ "

"Of course," Vi'ram replied. He then settled right by one of the ships, just out of sight of the security checkpoint. He then looked at the arrangement of the dock, seeing that the _Lying Bastard_ was in full view of the checkpoint. "Be extra careful, they'll be watching."

" _Got it,_ " said the person on the other end of the line. " _Let's do this._ "

* * *

Algun Ran entered the booth, setting a datapad down by one of the terminals. He turned to his fellow booth-mate, a short, lanky tolahña as he settled into the chair next to him.

"All going according to plan, Ji'rel?" Algun asked, brushing some synthetic hair out of his eyes as he sat down.

"Yes, Algun," said the tolahña. He turned to the exion, frowning as he tapped his hand against the counter, looking over at his coffee. "Nothing unusual yet."

"Well, it's always something," said Algun. He then sat down, typing away. "Gotta make sure we run these things on a tight vessel."

"Yeah." Ji'rel turned, looking over to the exion. "Did you get the malfunctioning security cameras on the third floor yesterday?"

"I did, yes," said Algun. "It was just an electrical problem. Ten minutes with the soldering kit, and it was all better."

"Good, good." Ji'rel said. "So no problems with it today, then?"

"Nope. They should read our signals loud and clear."

Ji'rel nodded, leaning back. "Good," he said. "Then we keep a vigilant eye."

"Like always," said Algun, the exion leaning forward.

Algun failed to notice a brief spark between the datapad and the terminal he had set the datapad next to. After a second, the spark vanished, and while there was nothing visible the programs that had leapt into the terminal were already hard at work. Algun and Ji'rel simply kept working at their stations, making sure everything was in order.

* * *

Sura sat in her cell, hugging her knees to her chest. She looked outside, sighing heavily. She had been rather bored since she was carted in, and despite her expectation she had not yet been carted off to an interrogation.

It made Sura feel a little lonely. There was nobody else for her to talk to, either, which made things a little more complicated.

She sighed, watching as another set of guards made their rotation. She sat perfectly still, watching them pass by. She found herself at odds with the uniform: they were all-white, and the helmets were made of almost opaque glass. It reminded her quite a bit of a quarian's helmet, except quite a bit more intimidating. The guards passed, shouldering a taser-like device that still looked somewhat familiar to Sura. She shrugged, shaking her head and turning her attention back to the field that held her in the cell.

And then, suddenly, the cell's field had dropped completely. The asari frowned, leaning forward. After a second or two, she stepped towards the threshold of the cell, her hand gently gracing along the end of it. She frowned, glancing around the cell.

 _Why would...?_ she thought. _This doesn't seem..._

She then looked up at the surveillance cameras, before looking down the hall. Her instincts told her something was off about this set-up: the cameras were still looking directly at her, she knew there would be a pair of guards coming back before long, and even if she somehow got past those two things, the guards would catch on that something was up.

But she waited, the gears in her mind turning. And then, she noticed a peculiar thing: despite the fact that the cameras were pointed right at her, and despite the fact that her hand was very visibly outside the cell, the alarms had not yet sounded. There were no klaxons, there were no guards rushing... The possibility of a silent alarm crossed Sura's mind, but she quickly threw that from her mind: even a silent alarm would have had an effect at that moment in time. She frowned, then, looking at the cell.

 _And nobody would toy with a prisoner's emotions like that, not even here,_ she thought.

She then stepped out tentatively, rushing towards the security camera and flattening herself on the wall against it. She then watched as the cell door's field solidified. She glanced down the corridor, seeing no guards either way.

However, she also noticed a keypad next to the cell door spark a little. She paused, frowning. All it had for a display was a light, and that light was shining green. She looked to the cell directly to her right, before noticing that its light was shining red.

She then heard a panel spark to her left. She turned, seeing the indication light on the panel turn green. She paused, frowning as she leaned forward. She cautiously crawled around, being careful to duck in case the security camera's field could still pick her up. She then walked over, ducking down and hearing another panel spark. She picked up her pace, seeing that a third panel had indeed turned green.

Sura grinned. Her attention turned to the other occupants of the other cells. She immediately frowned, realizing that she had not even realized there were other prisoners around her. They all looked at Sura in some surprise, but that surprise quickly wore out as they turned their gaze back down. She noticed that their gaze was dejected, and she noticed one even shake her head and mutter something under his breath.

Sura frowned. "What was that?" she whispered loud enough for him to hear.

The occupant, a gaunt-looking aqueron with sunken-in cheekbones, turned to look at Sura. "Good luck," he said. "Nothing less than inciting a riot with every prisoner in this place will help you escape. I have tried many times... You will not be any luckier."

Sura chuckled. "Thanks for the tip," she said. "I'll do what I can. In the meantime, you never saw me attempt it."

"It would not matter if we said anything," the aqueron replied. "But you may attempt it."

"I will." She then moved away, following the trail of green as it began to light up. She looked up and checked for guards, before continuing on at a slower pace.

"Okay, Gretel, lead the way..."

* * *

Kasumi opened her spare omni-tool quickly looking up at Xerxes. She smirked, looking over at the window. "Well, will you look at the time?" asked Kasumi. She then stood up, looking outside the cell.

Xerxes perked up. He knelt forward, looking up at the thief. "Be careful," he whispered.

Kasumi flashed a confident grin at the turian. She then reached into her hood, looking deep within for something that she knew they would have missed. She turned to the window, grabbing an object no larger than a pen. She flashed a grin, seeing the pointed end of this object as the blade glinted in the light. She then walked up to the window, pointing the pointed end right at it.

"I'm always careful."

With this, Kasumi darted forward, smashing the point of her object against the glass of the window. It cracked after the first blow, and Kasumi went for another blow immediately. This blow shattered the glass. She then began to crawl past the frame of the window, preparing to shove herself right out.

She had just passed the threshold when the guards finally came around. They let out a loud cry, before Kasumi vanished past the window.

"No! The prisoner!"

The guards opened Kasumi's cell, rushing in and looking towards the window. They spent a second looking outside, but they saw absolutely nothing out the window. There was no sign of the thief anywhere, and Xerxes watched with bated breath as they glanced about.

"Damn," the first guard said. "Where'd she go?"

"This is bad..." The second guard shook his head. "But she won't get far. Even if she survives the fall..."

"Yeah," said the first guard. "But just in case..." They both pulled away, the guard pulling up a strange computer Xerxes had seen them use. "Command, we have an green alert. One of our prisoners just tried to escape outside the window."

The officers passed the threshold of the cell. He breathed in and out, squeezing his eyes shut. "Yes, she smuggled in something that got past our sensors," the first guard replied. "She'll likely be trying to exit through the front gate. Be advised."

And then, they closed the cell door behind them. Only then, did Xerxes take a nervous breath in. His mandibles clicked against his teeth in anticipation as the guards walked away. "Of course, sir," the first guard continued. "She'll be back in custody in no time."

With this, the guards left. They were replaced by a pair of different guards. This gave Xerxes reason to pause, and he found his heart rate quicken slightly as he looked on. He then leaned against the door of his cell as this new pair of guards passed him by. He looked around, his heart pounding away. He then turned back to look at the guards, his talons raking against the cell doors.

And then, he saw an outline appear right behind the guards. From there, Kasumi materialized, punching the guard in the head with an electric charge. At the grunt the first guard released, the second guard turned. He barely had any time to react before Kasumi had leapt onto his shoulders, using her momentum to bring the guard to the floor. Xerxes heard a crack, and then the turian cringed slightly as the second guard stopped moving.

After a second, Kasumi stood up, rolling her shoulders as she turned to Xerxes. "Damn, I almost didn't get through before they closed the doors on me," she said. "Sloppy."

Xerxes allowed himself a small smile as Kasumi then began rummaging around the guards' clothing. "You scared me for a second there," he said.

"Well, I do my best," said Kasumi. She then grabbed a key card from the guard, before approaching Xerxes' cell. "Quick, help me get these guys in the cell. We haven't got much time before the loop I've got on that surveillance camera runs out."

Xerxes nodded as Kasumi opened the cell door. "Right," he said. He then rushed over to the first guard, picking him up and carrying him to the cell. "What now?"

"There has to be a control room somewhere," said Kasumi as she dragged the second guard into the cell. "Just follow my lead: I got this all under control."


	20. Chapter 20

Pravuil carefully hoisted Kalo's arms over him, the arms gripping the aqueron with more strength than he thought they would be capable of.

"Is that tight enough?" Kalo asked.

"Just about," said Pravuil. He grabbed the rungs of the ladder, giving it a test as he looked at the quarian. "If we time this right..."

Kalo nodded. "Be careful," he said.

Praviul gave a reassuring smile to Kalo, before he stepped away from the ladder and pulled on a face mask. "Alright," he said. He then looked down. "Now, the sewers of this place actually have a sub level around the docks. It's right above us."

"What is in there?" asked Kalo.

"Mostly vehicles," said Pravuil as he ascended the ladder. "Mainly they are maintenance vehicles, but they are vehicles that are kept under strict lock and key. However, to get out, they must manipulate a door."

"How does the Obschesto's rotation enter into it?" Kalo asked.

"If we time it right..." Pravuil then reached a cover, before lifting it slightly. "There are usually people working such a shift when it is a busy day at port... Hopefully..." He then looked around through the slight raise of the cover. He frowned, slightly lowering himself as he ducked down.

"There are workers in there," Kalo said.

"Yes," said Pravuil. He sighed. "Three of them. This might take a little longer than anticipated." He looked to Kalo. "I hope you can hang on until then."

Kalo nodded. "I do not feel faint yet," he said. "I just hope this is not too slow."

"I hope so as well," said Pravuil as he lifted the manhole again. He then sighed. "Mm... It looks like they are preparing a vehicle for dispatch. Perhaps that will be the chance we require."

Kalo nodded. "Do I climb on you first, or..."

"That may be preferable," said Pravuil. "The issue is, you will need to be quick. We are out in the open a little. There are some crates to my right you can hide behind, but as soon as I say the word, you need to move quickly. Can you do that?"

"I hope so," said Kalo. He paused, clearing his throat and sniffling. "Apologies."

Pravuil shook his head. "Better that it comes out now," he stated. "When we try to sneak around, it could work against us."

"True." Kalo then brought a hand forward, gripping the edge of the manhole where Pravuil was sighting. "Just tell me when."

Pravuil nodded, scanning as Kalo placed one leg on the rungs of the ladder. The aqueron carefully navigated his arm so it laid flat against the manhole cover, nodding at the quarian. "On my mark." Pravuil then turned, looking through the hole and seeing the movements of the attendant's feet.

He saw an attendant get decently close, but then the feet did a sharp 45 degree turn away. Pravuil nodded, seeing the other two sets of feet where they stood still farther off in the distance. Pravuil watched the closer set of feet, watching as they walked away from where they were.

And then, they disappeared.

"Go."

Pravuil pushed the manhole cover open quickly. Kalo scrambled to get out, one of his feet slipping on the rungs of the ladder. However, he managed to clamber out, crawling out as his arms pulled him forward. Pravuil quickly and quietly sank back in the manhole, keeping an eye on Kalo as he crawled as quickly as he could. The quarian stumbled briefly, rolling over just as he rolled around the crates.

Pravuil breathed in looking at the other sets of feet. He felt a slight raise in his pulse as he saw the other pairs of feet turn around. He swallowed, hearing voices that were too far for him to make out what they said. He paused, listening carefully for the quality of their voices.

But upon noticing that their volume had not turned up, the aqueron nodded. He then turned to Kalo, seeing that the quarian had managed to pull himself behind the crates. He nodded, before turning back and looking at their feet.

As soon as they turned, Pravuil pushed out, getting out of the sewer in one quick motion and quietly lowering the manhole cover back in place. As soon as it was down, he rolled next to Kalo.

The quarian nodded. "What do we do now?" he asked.

"We wait," said Pravuil as he scanned the area. He looked at the other occupants of the large chamber, seeing an aqueron and two ra'ken working at various equipment. "And then that will give me time to plan our next move."

Kalo nodded, swallowing some phlegm in his throat. "Let's hope it does not take too long..."

Pravuil gazed past the crates, scanning the doors out to what he knew would lead to where the ships were. "If our timing is right, it should not..."

* * *

Sura watched the displays go red immediately. She breathed in, glancing ahead just in time to make out men in uniforms approaching her.

She quickly wheeled around, planting herself into a corner created by a cell door and the outcropping of a nearby hallway. She had to remind herself not to press too hard against the corner as she listened intently for the footsteps. She quickly looked at the cell she was next to, seeing a lone ra'ken sitting there looking as if he had not even noticed her presence. She then steadied her breathing, staring off and being careful not to look directly at the corner.

After a few seconds, she saw a pair of guards pass her by. She held still, watching them move past her. They barely paid any attention to her, almost as if they had not seen her. The asari then quickly turned to the hallway, glancing down it to see that there were a few guards going about. The present gaggle of guards faced down the hallway away from her, though she suspected that there would be other guards who could come down that direction any moment.

She then turned back to the displays on the cell doors. There was only one green one, across the hall from her. Then, she found that the trail had ended there, and that there were no more green lights going down the line of cells.

Sura sighed, rubbing her head in dismay. "Great," she whispered. "Just what I needed..."

She then shook her head, peering around the corner again. The guards still had their backs turned to her, and then she braced herself against the corner. "Okay... You can do this, Sura..."

She then peered around, before slowly slinking into the hallway.

This hallwayhad no cells in it: it looked like an area that guards would have relaxed at. Sura passed by the entrance to a lounge, finding herself ducking under a window as she passed it. She dared to glance inside, and in there she saw a pair of praetorin who were simply chatting by there. She thought she could see one of the praetorin pull his head back, releasing a laugh as he rested a hand on his abdomen.

Sura turned away, but she allowed herself a nostalgic smile. _Just like the workplace at home,_ she thought.

She then shook her head, remembering she was an escaping prisoner in a prison crawling with guards. She then looked around for any indication from whatever source there was, this time seeing that all of the indicators were green. She figured there was probably reason for that, considering the lounge was right there. She then walked forward, glancing behind her in case any guards caught her out in the open.

She then slinked right next to a door. From where she stood, she saw a hallway open up right in front of her. There was another door right next to it, and as Sura looked on she saw the indicator on the door blink. It was a rather slow blink from green to red and back again, and when she looked to a door on the other side of the hallway's aperture, she saw the same thing.

She nodded. "Right, go down that hallway," she thought.

She then made one last check for guards, before rushing across the hall and moving down the hallway. There were no guards in the hallway, and no doors either. She simply kept going down the hall, looking for any indication of where to go next.

* * *

Kasumi peered around the corner, flattening Xerxes against the wall behind her as she looked ahead.

She then nodded, gently grabbing Xerxes' wrist before moving along. "This way."

The thief moved along, Xerxes keeping up as best he could. He glanced behind him, making sure there were no guards behind them. He then turned around, seeing Kasumi stop moving immediately.

It was then that Xerxes paused, seeing a pair of guards move across the hallway in front of them. He flattened himself against the wall as best he could, but by the time he had settled, the guards had already passed them. He frowned, waiting for some kind of commotion to occur. When it didn't, he frowned, leaning closer to Kasumi.

"You'd think these guys would have peripheral vision," he commented.

"You would," Kasumi commented. "Guess we can use that to our advantage!"

Xerxes nodded, swallowing a lump in his throat. "We're not close to a control room, are we?"

"Don't think so," said Kasumi. She then peered around the corner, gesturing for Xerxes to follow along. "This way."

She then opened her omni-tool, running around the corner. Xerxes followed, finding he was in a hallway that did not contain any cells at all. He then slowed down as Kasumi slowed down, opening a function on her omni-tool and kneeling by one of the doors.

"Watch for guards for me."

Xerxes nodded, remembering the direction the guards had come from. He then looked in the opposite direction, settling a hand on Kasumi's shoulder in case he had to yank her away. He then glanced down, seeing Kasumi look at a video feed on her omni-tool. She stared intently at it, looking for a few seconds before shaking her head.

"No, not a control room," she said. "Though if we need somewhere to hide..."

Xerxes nodded, and then Kasumi moved on to the next door. Xerxes followed, noting an alcove that could serve a similar function. He kept his eyes open for anything else as Kasumi knelt in front of another door. She then looked at her omni-tool, frowning in concentration as she watched more video feedback. She then shook her head, closing the omni-tool and stepping forward.

"Nothing-"

And that was when Xerxes saw familiar white uniforms.

"Shit!"

He ducked into the nearby alcove, Kasumi being yanked back. As soon as Xerxes was out of sight, he saw Kasumi vanish from view. He then flattened himself as much as he could against the alcove, though the turian found that difficult with his fringe in the way. He simply squeezed his eyes shut, the turian hoping against hope that he would not be noticed.

He heard the guards' footsteps approach. As they got closer to him, though, he heard voices, and then the footsteps began to speed up. He clenched his fist, opening his eyes and simply hoping it would not be too difficult to take them out.

He then turned right as the guards looked into the alcove, punching one guard in the stomach as hard as he could. This sent the guard reeling back. Xerxes then turned around, drawing his talons out and catching the guard with a slash. It did not do much damage, but it was enough to send the guard reeling. He then lunged forward, baring his talons to go for another slash.

Before he could, he was pushed straight to the ground. He then watched as the second guard went down due to an electrical attack. He heard a scuffle behind him, but that quickly ended, before silence reigned briefly in the hall.

He was then helped to his feet by Kasumi, as she adjusted her hood. "So, about that closet..."

"Yeah," said Xerxes. He then bent down, picking up one of the guards and quickly running to the door in question and opening it. "So I'm assuming even the closets have security cameras?"

"Well yeah," said Kasumi. She then winked, opening her omni-tool and opening up a new application. "Don't worry, I've got it covered."

Xerxes nodded, grabbing the other guard and hoisting him over his shoulder. "Of course you would."

* * *

Jodie looked to Kim as they made their rounds. The cells were all full of various prisoners of all species. She would have paused, but keeping pace with Kim required her to remain ever vigilant. She thus looked forward again, glancing every so often at a prisoner behind their clear cells.

"Hm... Interesting."

Jodie glanced at Kim. "What is it?" she asked, remembering to maintain a whisper as she spoke.

"Green alert is on right now," said Kim.

Jodie nodded. "I'm guessing it'll be a problem when we hit red?" she asked.

Kim turned to Jodie in confusion. "How did you know?" she asked.

Jodie chuckled. "It works the same way with humans," she said. She then crossed her arms, looking ahead and sighing. "So what does that mean?"

"Something is amiss, but the situation will be under control soon," said Kim. "Basically, we just keep doing what we do until we hit yellow alert. And that is when we're allowed to break formation, because that is when some of the guards will be told to assist in the situation."

"And how'll we know if we're the ones to do that?" asked Jodie.

Kim turned to Jodie, and in the way her face mask gleamed she figured Kim saw it too. "I took care of that while checking in," she said.

"Ah." Jodie frowned. "Wait, they're on an alert, so that could mean..." She frowned, looking up at Kim.

"It's possible," said Kim. She then shook her head. "Possible, but not for certain." She then looked ahead, seeing a particular cell. "You said one of the names in this block was familiar."

"Valentine," said Jodie.

"He should be around here..." Kim stated.

Kim turned to a cell on her right. Jodie glanced over at the cell, but there was nobody in the cell. The exion's gaze lingered there, but Jodie kept on moving. After a second, the exion kept moving on, Jodie's pace slowing down ever so slightly.

"He's not there..." said Jodie. "Nobody is..."

Kim and said nothing. Jodie frowned, looking up to the exion in confusion. Before she could ask anything, Aiden trilled softly, Jodie relaxing slighly as the two of them kept walking in silence.

After a minute, Kim turned to Jodie. "Sorry, I was checking something in the database I picked up before we came over," she said. "Apparently, he was moved to interrogation before we arrived."

"And you didn't think to mention this before now," said Jodie.

"I didn't think to _check_ before then," said Kim. "Oversight on my part. Should've checked there first..." She shook her head. "Our best bet is to hope for a yellow alert, then."

"And how are we going to trigger that?" asked Jodie.

"I don't know," said Kim. "I'd send in an extra contingent from the ones already planned to infiltrate, but that would jump us straight to red alert, and we do _not_ want to risk that until we know where everybody is and we know how to get them out."

Jodie frowned. "Then we'll have to hope that whatever happens with the one that managed to break out pans out..." She shook her head. "I _really_ don't like this plan."

"Neither do I," said Kim. "I'm going to see what I can do to force a yellow alert. At least then, we can be active. This might take some time..."

Jodie nodded, letting out a shaky breath. "Let's hope it works..."

* * *

Sura pressed herself against the wall, squeezing her eyes shut as she heard footsteps pass her. After a few seconds, the footsteps subsided. She waited a few more seconds, feeling her pulse slow down after the sudden spike she felt.

 _How did I not get seen by them?_ she thought.

She then shook her head, looking out to another series of doors and panels. She then looked out, examining each one. She then frowned, tapping her fingers against her upper arm as she looked to a door. It was a door that had a rapidly flashing display, the green and red causing her to blink as she took the image in. When she looked at the other doors, she noticed none of them were lit up in quite the same way.

The asari nodded, retreating back into her corner of wall. _That's my destination, isn't it?_ she thought, rubbing her chin in thought. _Okay, at least I know where I need to go. That's a good sign. The question is, how do I get in...?_

She then turned back to look at it, tapping her fingers as she looked on. She then found herself retreating, seeing the door open. Right as she saw the display stop rapidly flashing, she saw an aqueron leave, though she noticed she was not as well-armed as most of the other guards. She was able to see his face, and he wore a rather loose white outfit rather than the draconian uniforms she had seen for the past several minutes. It then occurred to her that perhaps this was not a guard, but perhaps something else.

She then watched as he stowed a key-card looking object in his breast pocket.

_There we go..._

Sura then crouched, the technician walking by. Sura flexed her fingers, feeling a build-up of biotic energy right on her fingertips. She watched as the technician passed, before looking back to make sure there were no guards around. She then nodded, looking over to the technician.

Before he could move much further, Sura threw her hand forward. The technician was suddenly caught in a biotic stasis, the technician forced to stand totally still. Sura wasted no time: she rushed forward, bringing her elbow down hard on the technician's head as quickly as she could. It was just enough to break the biotic stasis, and then the technician fell to the floor, knocked out cold.

Still, Sura wasted no time. She quickly grabbed the technician by the shoulders, quickly pulling him back behind cover. It was not a second too soon: as soon as Sura had propped him up against her, she heard a set of footsteps. She adjusted her position, remaining as still as she could with an unconscious technician in her arms. She held her breath, squeezing her eyes shut as the footsteps approached, became louder...

And then the footsteps moved away.

Sura sighed, reaching into the breast pocket and pulling out the key card involved. She also turned, using it to sling the unconscious technician onto her shoulder.

 _Better take him with me,_ she thought. _In case the security requires something..._

She then walked up to the panel, sliding the key card in. The display then blinked, before she then saw a holographic projection appear just above the display with a mold for a hand. Sura frowned, before shaking her head.

_Of course..._

She then looked to the technician slung over her shoulder, before she grabbed the back of his hand. She then spread it lightly, carefully bringing the hand up. As she moved, she positioned her arm in an odd way. It brought her some amount of discomfort, but she knew she had to do that if she was to keep her hand completely behind the technician's hand.

 _After all, if I know anything about these things, the second it knows someone's manipulating it I'm done,_ she thought.

She then held her breath, looking at the holographic scanner as she gingerly brought the technician's hand forward. She closed her eyes as it approached, and then she breathed in...

_Steady..._

She heard a high-pitched beep, and then the sliding of a door opening.

Sura opened her eyes, blinking as she looked into the room in front of her. She stood there for a couple of seconds, before sighing in relief.

"Well, that wasn't so bad," she muttered, stepping into the room with the technician in tow. As soon as she passed the threshold, the door closed behind her and it gave her the opportunity to pause.

And then, she saw a strange medical table-like device in the center of the room. She noted an observation station across the way, though she also noticed that at the time there were no technicians in there. She then turned to the table, and then frowned when she saw its occupant.

She sighed, depositing the unconscious technician on the floor.

"Of course," she said. "Of _course_ my damn savior is a geth."

* * *

Karshia moved forward, glaring back at Ru'val. The tolahña moved rather quickly, pushing Karshia along and subtly pushing the barrel of his pistol against her spine. Ru'val's glance was trained on the security checkpoint in front of them. It was rather unpopulated, with only a few security guards watching the checkpoint. Karshia frowned, looking up to Ru'val.

"You know your gun won't get past security," she said.

"I know," said Ru'val. "They'll know the make and model of it..."

Karshia growled a little, before shaking her head. "But let me guess: Punargathana and your friends are on the case."

"They really are not so bad," Ru'val stated. He then looked forward, bowing his head. "I am sorry I had to do this, but I have no other option. I know Sa'lem means much to you..."

Karshia sighed. "He does, but... I cannot forsake my loyalty to my people," she replied. "You know that. You have put me in a weird position..."

Ru'val shook his head. "No," he said. "This way, you can help Sa'lem without facing blowback."

"What?" Karshia turned to Ru'val. "How did you know that?"

"Your father told me about your meeting after you left," he said. "About how Sa'lem's arrest felt wrong. And I could see it in how you delivered the news." Ru'val paused, letting his words sink in before he resumed approaching the security station. "You can say you did everything you are about to do under coercion from me, and I am making it true. That is how you can aid Sa'lem now."

Karshia frowned, looking back at the older tolahña. "Father's going to be heartbroken," she said.

"I know," said Ru'val. He remained silent, approaching the security checkpoint. He then paused, looking over at Karshia. "Can I trust you not to keep the gun on your back for a few seconds?"

Karshia sighed, looking down at the ground as she approached the checkpoint. She said nothing, however, before swallowing a lump in her throat and looking at the security officer.

"You better be right about this," she said.

Karshia then approached the checkpoint, Ru'val standing back. Ru'val quickly stowed the pistol in a pocket of his pants, hoping that the dampening materials would be enough. He then patted it, stepping up behind Karshia as she began chatting with the security guards.

* * *

Silman knelt on the rooftop, the artician keeping an eye on Ru'val and Karshia. He adjusted his drone camera with his handcom, looking down at them as he made sure not to remain seen. His gaze remained trained on Karshia as she passed through the security checkpoint.

"Okay, there we go..." The artician leaned back, adjusting the camera slightly so it turned to face Ru'val. "Now, for the more important of the two... C'mon, tech guys, don't fail me now..."

Silman then watched as Ru'val struck up a conversation with the security guards. The tolahña seemed rather relaxed, though Silman thought he could see a couple slight tells. His arm that had used the gun formerly seemed a little tense, and his foot tapped against the floor a little, but he did his best to maintain his composure. He then breathed in, watching as he was directed to step through the security equipment. Silman held his breath as Ru'val stepped through.

A few seconds passed. And then, the security guards nodded to Ru'val, giving him a friendly wave. The tolahña then nodded, walking away with Karshia.

Silman nodded, quickly flicking his fingers and calling his drome camera back to him. He then brought a hand up to his ear.

"They're through, Vi'ram," he said. "You're clear to do the infiltration."

* * *

"Got it, mate," Vi'ram stated, looking up as he then walked back down the row of ships. "I'll give the go ahead now."

" _Good,_ " Silman replied. " _Let's hope we don't fuck this._ "

"Don't worry, mate, I got it under control," the tolahña replied. He then closed the comm link, before walking up to a terminal and tapping the interface three times. He then looked up to one of the rooftops, hoping to see a sign.

To his relief, he saw a green light flash twice in a spot he could see. He then nodded, before making his way back towards the security checkpoint.

* * *

Sura shook her head, looking at the geth on the table.

"T'Lenya-Officer," Legion began, its headflaps moving rather quickly. "We assume our contingent led you here."

"Contingent?" asked Sura.

"We sacrificed eighty-three of our programs to find a way to escape," the geth replied. "We find their reasoning to be logical. We cannot free ourselves physically."

Sura crossed her arms. "What, the techno-clamps are too techy for you?" she asked.

"No," said Legion. "They are not manipulated by electrical signal. We would have escaped if they were."

Sura frowned, stepping closer. She then leaned forward, raising her eyebrows as she examined the clamps that held Legion. She ran her hands over them, frowning as she tapped one side of the restraints.

"Damn, you weren't kidding," she said.

"They correctly assumed we would require assistance," said Legion. "It falls to T'Lenya-Officer to help in our escape."

"Whoah, wait a minute," said Sura. "What about everyone else here? We've still got to worry about Valentine and Kasumi. And maybe Kalo, too. I don't know."

Legion pondered, looking at Sura as it tilted its flashlight head. "We have insufficient data," said Legion.

"What do you mean?" said Sura.

"We have calculated that rescuing everyone else incurs a great risk," Legion began. "The risk there is great. And yet, other calculations suggest we cannot escape without aid."

"Well, apart from me being here," said Sura.

"Possibly, but we do not have sufficient data to calculate the risk of helping everyone out," said Legion. It turned its headflaps to Sura. "Regardless, some of our programs are in this prison's security system. We can calculate when we reunite with my programs."

Sura frowned. "And let me guess, you need my help to get there," she said. "What about everyone else? Because if the plan is to just leave them here, I'm not on board with it."

Legion's head flaps moved. "What gives T'Lenya-Officer reason to suspect we will not?" he asked.

"All your talk of self-preservation," said Sura. She threw her arms in the air. "I don't like the idea of working with someone who's pretty much implied that they'll stab their friends in the back if it'll save their own hide all through this thing. So what's going to stop you from deciding that leaving them all here is your best chance of survival?"

"We do not know yet," said Legion. It then paused, looking around. "But you are aware we can't stay here. We will consider the question further when we have more data."

Sura shrugged. "So you're asking me to take a leap of faith, then," she said, narrowing her eyes.

"Leap of faith?" Legion asked.

Sura sighed. "Human phrase," she replied. She then leaned forward. "Look, are you going to help them or not?"

Legion's headflaps whirred. "We must calculate risk," said Legion. "If it satisfies T'Lenya-Officer, we will do what we can."

Sura paused, before nodding and walking up to the clamps. "I don't know if you're doing that to save your own hide again or if you really want to, but I imagine it doesn't make much difference to you." She then examined the clamps, before leaning forward and glowing blue.

"Watch your head: some of these clamps might be held tighter than others."

Legion's headflaps moved, but other than that the geth made no indication that it heard Sura. With this, she pried the first of the clamps open, Legion suddenly able to move its left arm. It held the left arm, but did not get much of a chance to bask in this before its legs and right arm were freed from the clamps as well.

The geth then stepped off the table, blinking its flashlight "eye" as it looked around. "We feel... strange, now," the geth said. "This platform was immobile too long."

"No kidding," said Sura. She then indicated the technician lying on the floor. "Now, what're we going to do about him?"

Legion turned to Sura, and she swore there was something almost mischievous in the way it tilted its head.

It then indicated the table. "This unit wishes to experiment in what humans name 'karma'..."

* * *

"Hey, it's time to run maintenance! Open the hatch!"

Pravuil ducked further behind his crates, the aqueron watching as the dock workers moved into place. Pravuil looked to Kalo, the quarian nodding as he shakily pushed himself to a position he could move easily from. Kalo then peered over the crates, feeling his head for the breathing mask he had pulled on. He then looked over as two of the dock workers left the room, the third entering one of the maintenance vehicles in the dock.

After a second, the bay's doors opened. Pravuil then held his ground, grabbing on to Kalo's waist and hanging on for dear life as he felt the air get sucked out of the room. Pravuil could see the lights behind Kalo's mask widen in surprise, but Pravuil simply held his ground, his muscles straining with the effort.

Thankfully, it only lasted a few seconds. As soon as it subsided, Pravuil let go, looking around at their surroundings. From there, he knew he only had a brief window of time before the hatch doors would be closed after the exit of the maintenance vehicle. Thus, he lay crouched in wait, pulling Kalo close as he watched the maintenance vehicle start up.

After a second, the vehicle began to move. Pravuil then watched as the driver stared straight ahead, the vehicle moving rather slowly. He then watched its progress in the bay, watching as it approached the aperture, getting closer...

As soon as it was halfway to the opening, Pravuil nodded. He then grabbed Kalo's arm, pulling him up to his feet before rushing straight for the aperture. The aqueron then pushed forward, rushing straight for the aperture as the vehicle left.

Pravuil leapt mightily, grabbing the side of the Obschesto right next to the door. Kalo's feet had barely cleared the opening before it began to close.

Kalo breathed in and out, looking at where they exited. He then turned to Pravuil, and then back out to the vast expanse beyond them, and to the remainder of the ship yard. The vehicle then moved off, Kalo looking over to Pravuil.

Pravuil then heard a buzz in his ear as Kalo brought a hand to his helmet. "Where do we go from here?" Kalo asked.

"Give me a second," Pravuil replied. He then examined his surroundings, remembering when he was finally pulled out of the Lying Bastard earlier. He recalled seeing a few ship designs, though seeing them from underneath the Obschesto was a different experience. He then scanned to his left, slowly pushing over.

And then, he saw the strange squid-like hull of the _Lying Bastard_.

"There it is," he said, before gesturing for Kalo to hold on to his shoulders. "Is the hatch still open underneath the ship?"

"It may be, it may not be," said Kalo. "I do not know."

"Then let us find out," said Pravuil. He then began to scale the wall to the side, looking back at the quarian. "Hold on. This may require me to do a few jumps."

And with this, Pravuil continued on, climbing along as he slowly made his way to the Lying Bastard. He moved very quickly, the quarian marvelling at his speed even though he was bogged down by the weight of the quarian. He held on, looking down at him.

"You move so quickly..." Kalo noted.

Pravuil frowned, looking behind him. Kalo looked as well, seeing a ship of an unfamiliar design. "Still not there..." The aqueron shook his head, before he began to move faster. "We need to be in place quickly."

"For what?" asked Kalo.

"That maintenance ship will be coming around soon," said Pravuil. "If we move quickly, we can get onto your ship. We must use the Obschesto's rotation to our advantage."

Kalo then looked back, before seeing the Lying Bastard directly to his right. "There it is!" Kalo raised his voice slightly. "Keep going!"

He then retreated, letting out a series of coughs. Pravuil paid no mind, simply continuing to climb along. He then suddenly paused on one particular cough, before feeling the quarian loose his grip.

With a cry, Pravuil reached out, just managing to grab the quarian's forearm. He held still, Kalo reeling slightly as he realized he was floating out by the Obschesto. He blinked in shock, looking over as he felt the phlegm lodge in his throat.

And then, he saw the craft from earlier appear. "Damn!" he said, letting out a short cough.

Pravuil saw it too, before he then looked over to the Lying Bastard. He then frowned, looking over to the quarian. The quarian then leaned forward, slowly pulling himself up so he could grip the aqueron's forearm. The aqueron simply paused, looking back at the craft.

And then, Pravuil got an idea. He then turned to Kalo. "Kalo, you must trust me!" he said. "Do you trust me?"

Kalo frowned. "Why?" he asked.

"I will have to throw you now," the aqueron replied. "I hope you are ready, we do not have much time to act."

"What?"

But before Kalo knew what had happened, he suddenly reeled slightly as Pravuil wound his hand back. He suddenly felt himself move back towards the wall, Kalo losing his grip on Pravuil in shock as he then felt himself get flung right back immediately. He then watched as Pravuil flung him right at the direction of the Lying Bastard with all his might, the aqueron letting go pretty soon afterwards. Kalo cried in surprise, his cry suddenly interrupted by a fit of coughing as he flipped in the air.

He then felt someone tackle him from behind, and suddenly he was propelled forward. He had only just enough time to gain his bearings before he felt the front of his body slam against a hard metal surface, all sensation suddenly screaming to a stop. His head throbbed violently, and then he felt himself grow dizzy for a few seconds as he found himself unable to cough.

He then felt himself get hoisted onto someone's back, and he recognized Pravuil as the aqueron draped the quarian's arm over his shoulder. Kalo felt his stomach gently kick up some bile as he moved, and he swallowed in an attempt to keep it down. He then watched as Pravuil moved along, keeping an eye out on the space around him.

"Where is it?" asked Pravuil frenziedly. "Where's the hatch?"

Kalo looked ahead, before pointing at a patch of the hull. He then pointed over at it, having the presence of mind to extend his free arm out. "Open the... omni-tool," he said, pointing it at the hatch. "It'll open..."

Pravuil immediately opened the omni-tool, glancing out as he then navigated the menus as best he could in the space he was given. He then frantically searched around, before settling on a particular command. He then closed his eyes, pressing the command.

Kalo then watched as the hatch opened right on Pravuil's stomach, the aqueron hanging on and grabbing Kalo's arm again as he moved out of the way. In one movement, he had flipped around, and in short order the hatch opened all the way. Kalo then felt himself immediately pushed in, and he came face to face with the second hull of the ship not much later. He feebly pulled himself in right as Pravuil pulled himself into the hatch, and with a loud clap the hatch closed behind them.

In the silence that followed, Kalo was only able to breath shallowly. His arms felt like jelly, and he found himself barely able to move.

After a second, he turned his head, seeing Pravuil pull himself close. "Well, that was closer than I would have liked," said the aqueron. "I take it you're not feeling so well..."

"N... No..." said Kalo, weakly shaking his head.

Pravuil cursed under his breath, before looking around him. "Just hold on," he said. "We're almost inside the ship." He then looked around. "Now where the hell is that last hatch..."

* * *

The airlock opened, and shortly afterwards Karshia stepped inside, still goaded on by Ru'val's firearm. She then looked at the cockpit, turning back to Ru'val nervously as she inhaled.

"So what now?" she asked.

Ru'val gestured to the pilot's seat. "You know how to activate a hyperspace bomb," he stated. "Now... now we wait for word from Punargathana to undock and open a wormhole."

"This sounds like the most hastily put together plan I've ever seen," said Karshia. "You sure it won't fail?"

"No," said Ru'val. "Not even the leader is confident she can pull it off."

Karshia shrugged, shaking her head as she stepped into the pilot's seat. "Hope she's ready to be disappointed," she said. "We won't make it easy for her once we finally figure out what's going on."

Ru'val shook his head. "I know," he said. He then looked up, keeping his gun trained on Karshia as he opened up a comm link. "Silman, we are in the ship."

" _Oh, good,_ " said Silman. " _So that whole part's gone smoothly._ " He then chuckled. " _Watch, now is the part where we fuck it._ "

Ru'val frowned. "This is the first ray of hope I've had in a long time, and you are complaining?" he asked. "You should be much more hopeful."

" _Well, I guess we'll see,_ " said Silman. " _We're working on getting the Lying Bastard back. Once we do that, I'll let you know, and then I'll let you know when the prison heist is done. Once you get the word, you just go, yeah?_ "

"I understand," said Ru'val. He then turned to Karshia, who sat quietly in the pilot's chair. "I will await that."

" _Good,_ " said Silman. " _Keep radio silence until then. You never know who's watching the airwaves._ "

With this, the comm link cut. Ru'val sighed, before turning back to Karshia.

"So, you're just going to point that thing at me the whole time, hm?" asked Karshia.

"We cannot take the risk, I'm afraid," he said.

Karshia grinned. "Smart man," she said. She then turned out, smirking. "Feel free to press it to my head again when we're about to move out."

With this, the praetorin crossed her legs. Ru'val looked at her, frowning as he stepped closer. Upon seeing no suspicious activity, he frowned. "Should you not start it up first?"

Karshia sighed, leaning forward and beginning the start-up sequence. "I swear, nothing ever gets by a tolahña," she said. "After all these years, I still don't know how you do it..."

* * *

Algun Ran stood up, looking at Ji'rel as he smiled. "Well, I'm gonna take this over to Brun over in the observation area," said the artician as he waved a datapad in the air. "How's that green alert working out?"

"Still nothing," said Ji'rel. He sipped his coffee as he looked to Algun. "We're about three minutes away from bumping it up to a yellow alert."

Algun nodded. "That's fine," he said. He then patted a small firearm attached to his hip. "I'll be ready."

"Good," said Ji'rel. "Stand by."

Algun nodded, before leaving the control room. He turned down the hallway, taking a rather long trek and walking by several security guards. He nodded to most of them, though none of them returned any reply. The technician had grown used to that by then, knowing that the guards rarely answered any sort of greeting from the technicians. Algun had learned not to mind it, though as he walked he still felt a small shudder with each step.

He shrugged it off quickly, though, and continued on his way.

He glanced at the datapad in his hand briefly, reading over some of its contents. It had extra orders for the geth unit, most of which were redacted on his end. He assumed it was something for the technicians in the monitoring room. He nodded, before gently letting it down and walking along.

He then passed a door, though before he could do anything else, he heard loud screaming from within the door. He stopped, turning straight for the door. He then pressed his ear against it.

It was then he heard unnatural rattling from inside. He then frowned, shaking his head at the frequency of the sounds.

"They shouldn't be making _nearly_ that much noise for a geth," he said aloud.

He then turned, looking around the hallway, before he brought out his own card. He went through the motions of scanning into a secure area, and as soon as the door beeped green, he grabbed a hold of his firearm, ready to fire it off.

"Okay, machine, whatever you're doing, don't-"

And then, Algun stopped, actually looking at the table.

On the table where he knew the geth would have stayed, he instead saw an aqueron technician. He struggled against the clamps, his eyes darting every which way. He also noticed that something had been tied to his mouth, the object stopping all motion of his mouth. Algun's eyes widened as the aqueron turned, his eyes wide in fear as he struggled violently against the clamps.

"Holy shit!" Algun rushed towards the technician, dropping the datapad as he did. He then leaned forward, grabbing the improvised gag and tearing it off. "What happened here?"

"Oh, thank the spirits you came!" the technician said. "I don't know what happened, but I was walking along, and then I was stopped in place, and then I was knocked out!"

Algun frowned. "Did you see your attacker?" he asked.

"N-no..." the technician replied. "All I know is it surrounded me with something and stopped me. It was something blue..."

Algun's frown deepened, before he then began to pace around the room. "Their biotics..." He looked to the side, before quickly opening his handcom's comm unit. "Ji'rel, what's the status on the yellow alert?"

" _One minute away to raising,_ " said Ji'rel.

Algun shook his head. "Bump it up _now_ ," he said. "And while you're at it, run a scan on the Obschesto's systems, and check for any invading programs!"

Ji'rel paused, before Algun heard some extra beeps. " _Let me guess,_ " he said. " _It just hit the fan._ "

"Yep," Algun replied. "The geth just broke out, and I have the feeling he somehow figured out how to get one of his friends to help him, too!"

* * *

" _Attention all guards: we are on yellow alert. Please head to the experimentation wing immediately. We repeat, we are on yellow alert._ "

Jodie blinked upon hearing this announcement in her helmet. She turned to Kim, blinking in surprise. "Yellow alert already?"

Kim stopped, looking to Jodie. "Then that means..." Kim looked behind her. "One of your friends might have already started breaking out..."

Jodie blinked, stepping closer. "Then that's good, right?" she asked. "It'll make our job a little easier."

"Not if they're always moving," said Kim. "But we do have a little more freedom to move now."

Jodie nodded. "So we need to start moving..." She then frowned. "Valentine should be our priority. If he's being interrogated..."

"He may be weak," said Kim as she began to move a little faster. "If I know the Tayurmya's torture, they'll use chemicals to debilitate him." She then turned to Jodie. "But that shouldn't be a problem for you, should it?"

Jodie shook her head. "No," she said. "I'll just need ten seconds, at the most."

Aiden trilled his agreement. "Right," said Kim. "Let's go get your pilot."

"Yes, let's," said Jodie.

And with this, the two of them took off down the hall, Jodie preparing her own firearm as they moved.


	21. Chapter 21

 

Kasumi nimbly pulled away, just in time for the scan to finish. The door panel turned green, and then the door opened for her.

As soon as she stepped into the room, she saw two artician technicians immediately turn to her. "What the-"

Kasumi gave them no time to react. The thief immediately jumped in, delivering an electrified punch to the gut of one of the technicians that sent him sprawling on the floor. The other technician reached for a panel, but before he could reach it Xerxes had grabbed his head and slammed it against the wall, and he slumped down unconscious.

The door closed behind them, and just like that any real confrontation was over.

Kasumi nodded, immediately opening up her omni-tool and scanning the hardware. "Okay, we're in business," she said.

"Good." Xerxes then looked at their clothes, before shaking his head and readying his talons. "Let's hope these guys don't mind if their clothes become used for some other purpose."

Kasumi grinned, sparing a glance back to Xerxes as he began to tear the two artician's shirts off. "I'm sure you appreciate the view," she said.

Xerxes blinked, pausing as he looked at Kasumi. "I-it's just turian pragmatism," he said. He then moved back to work, his movements a little more hasty than before. "Unless you've got anything we can use as improvised gags and bindings?"

"Afraid not," said Kasumi as she twirled around in the chair. She then shrugged, before looking at the control panel. "Well, we've hit the motherload now," she said. "So our best bet is to figure out where people are in this place."

Xerxes nodded as he tore off a sleeve from the shirt he had been working with, using it to tie the technician's hands behind his back. "And you don't know where to start."

"That won't be a problem," Kasumi replied as she tapped a few projections on her omni-tool. "I just started a scan of the cells around here. With any luck, we'll have their locations in no time."

"I hope so." Xerxes finished tying an improvised gag around the artician's head, before turning to the next one and ripping his shirt open in one clean sweep. "I get the feeling we'll need to be quick about this."

"Yeah, I get that feeling too," Kasumi replied. She then shook her head, looking out at the window of the control room, frowning as she looked outside. "You think anyone saw us?"

"Doubt it," said Xerxes. "These guys are too concentrated on their routes. They're not bothering to look around in some cases, you know?"

Kasumi shook her head. "Never be sure of that," she said. She then heard her omni-tool beep, and she smiled. "Well, that didn't take long at all. Let's see..."

Xerxes quickly tied up the other technician, before standing up and looking at Kasumi as she opened a blueprint of the Tayurmya. "You downloaded this quickly?"

"Of course," said Kasumi. "We need some reference, right?" She then tapped a few buttons on her omni-tool, before a red dot appeared on the blueprint, right up near the top floor of the blueprint. "And that's where we are."

The turian leaned forward. "Wow..." he said. "That's a big tower."

"No kidding," said Kasumi. "Our main question is how do we get out, but we can save that for when we get the others. For now..." She then licked her lips, tapping a few more buttons on the omni-tool. "Here's where our guys are."

A few yellow dots then appeared in scattered places throughout the hologram, contrasting against the blue of the actual architecture. Xerxes leaned closer, pointing at the yellow dots. "They're so far away..."

"Yeah..." Kasumi sighed, rubbing the back of her head. "And I don't think we can get their equipment back, either. That's probably not here anymore." She frowned. "Though it seems a few more of us were taken since the last time. There shouldn't be a third dot here."

"There's an extra dot?" Xerxes asked.

"Yes," said Kasumi. She shook her head, minimizing the size of the blueprint before turning back to the control panel. "We can't worry about that now. I think I know the fastest way to the closest cell, but I'll need to disable a security setting from here first."

Xerxes bowed his head. "Just make it quick."

Kasumi smirked, before she turned to the control panel and began to manipulate her omni-tool.

"Come on, let's do this..."

* * *

Vi'ram passed the security checkpoint, pulling at something within his sleeve. He then looked at it, taking it and fiddling with the controls. He chanced a glance at the security checkpoint, walking past it briskly. He then walked over to a wall past the checkpoint, leaving his hand to the side.

Right as he passed the corner of the wall, he slapped the silver device against the wall. It stuck there, and as Vi'ram walked away, he nodded, knowing that nobody on the other side of the device would really have a good view of anyone past that point unless they crossed the threshold. He then walked forward, taking a brief look at the wall by the checkpoint.

Along the top, he saw a few operatives. He knew them fairly well: with a group as small as Punargathana it was not difficult to imagine. He gave them a nod to acknowledge their presence, and one by one the operatives began to leap off the wall and touch onto the ground. Vi'ram smiled, before turning to the _Lying Bastard_.

He then paused immediately, seeing a maintenance craft down below. He sighed, walking over to the rail. After a second, he was joined by one of the operatives. He was a tall exion, one whose body was very strongly built. The exion stood at the railway, looking at the maintenance craft as it slowly made its way over to the _Lying Bastard_. The occupants of the craft had not noticed the exion's presence, even though Vi'ram was fairly confident that they were past the area that the device he had attached to the wall had affected it.

The exion nodded. "I guess we'll have to stall them, hm?" he asked, orange eyes glowing in the dimmer light.

"Yeah, mate," said Vi'ram. "We can't do much if they're nosing into our business!"

The exion then stood tall, nodding. "Just take care of my body, yes?"

Vi'ram nodded, slowly walking up behind the exion as he began to exaggeratedly stumble away. "Sure, mate," he said.

With this, the exion moved onto the platform that led directly to the _Lying Bastard_ 's gangplank. He stumbled forward, grabbing the railway as Vi'ram immediately attempted to stabilize him. He even pulled him back to pull him away from the entrance of the _Lying Bastard_.

And as soon as Vi'ram pulled, he saw the light leave the robot's body. The tolahña was there just in time to catch the exion's body. He still stumbled forward a little bit, though, and it took him a little time to hook the exion's large arm over his shoulders, but eventually he had stabilized.

He then turned his attention to the maintenance craft, watching as it approached the _Lying Bastard_. Vi'ram slowly took a step away, knowing not to go too far away. He then waited a second, his muscles straining under the strain of holding the large exion up. He gritted his teeth, looking to the rest of the squad as they turned to him with confused looks.

Finally, however, the craft went away from the _Lying Bastard_. And as soon as it did, the exion's orange eyes lit up.

"There," he said. "They're gone."

Vi'ram nodded, plopping to the floor as he looked up at the exion. "Damn, mate, what kind of skep were you being down there?" he asked.

"I was just making sure their systems were being fed incorrect information," said the exion. "No harm done." He then turned to the _Lying Bastard_. "Let's get this show on the road, shall we?"

"Yeah, let's," said Vi'ram. "We've wasted too much time."

The exion nodded, before standing in front of the entrance to the ship. "Just give me two minutes, and I'll crack this baby open in no time!"

* * *

Sura flattened herself against a wall, looking to Legion as the geth platform edged ever closer to the door. She then paused, looking at Legion.

"This is the nearest control room?" the asari asked.

"Affirmative," Legion replied. "Spare 83 programs taken to this room. Can be re-uploaded, scanned..."

"And hopefully we'll have more info," she said. "But there will be technicians in there."

"We detect a high probability there are technicians inside," Legion replied.

Sura smiled, before she glowed a light blue. "Leave them to me," she said.

Legion nodded. "Hacking door open."

The geth's headflaps then tilted forward, and Sura watched the door controls. She quickly turned back to the hallway they had come from, making sure no security was in the vicinity. She then leaned forward, just in time to see the door's control panel turn green.

Sura then nodded, turning and unleashing a biotic bolt just as the door opened.

She heard a loud cry, and she barely registered as she watched a technician fly against the glass. She immediately turned, holding her hand out in front of another technician. He had just stood up, but whatever he was about to do was stopped abruptly by the stasis field Sura trapped him in. She then rushed forward, decking him hard in the face. The technician let out a grunt, before Sura then looked over to the other technician. He recovered his bearings, and was slowly crawling over to a physical button right at the end of the work station.

She rushed forward, kicking the technician in the gut. She then turned, splaying her hand out towards the other technician. He was sent flying into the wall with a cry, and after a second, he slumped to the floor. He then feebly tried to get up, but Sura was quicker, kicking him in the side of the head and rendering him unconscious.

Silence pervaded the room afterwards. Sura then nodded, shaking the tension out of her hands as she turned to Legion. "Okay, robot, we're in. I'll tie these guys up, you get what we need."

"Affirmative," said Legion.

Sura nodded, walking to the still conscious technician. She then grabbed what looked like a pair of handcuffs, and she frowned as she looked at them.

"Why are these on the technicians?"

She shook her head, before grabbing the technician and cuffing his hands behind his back around a table leg. Sura then shrugged, before walking to the unconscious technician and cuffing him to a leg.

"Mm..." The first technician groaned.

Sura then turned to Legion. "So what's the status?" she asked.

"Alert," said Legion. "Security protocols in effect."

Sura frowned. "So they know we're here."

"Likely." The geth turned away. "Will need more time to retrieve programs from servers. Will take longer than originally calculated."

"So basically, we have to hold the fort." Sura shook her head, before settling in one of the chairs. She then planted her foot right along his crotch, staring at him as he looked up at her in surprise.

"How..." the technician said. "How did you-?"

"Not important," Sura replied. "What _is_ important is that, if you stay still and be quiet, you'll still be able to have children when this is all over."

The technician shifted, frowning. "You really think you're going to leave this place alive," he said.

Sura shrugged. "We're gonna try anyway." She then applied pressure with her foot, watching as the man beneath her writhed in pain. "In my line of work, I don't make threats lightly. Understand?"

The technician nodded. Sura smiled, pulling her foot back. "Good," she said. She then turned to the unconscious technician. "Now, to bring that guy up to speed when he wakes up..."

* * *

Pravuil knocked the floor tile out of his way. He then brought his hand out, pushing it away as he grunted. He then turned to Kalo, leaning down and grabbing the quarian by the shoulders. Kalo only let out a sigh, just barely able to stand on his own and grab on to the floor of the _Lying Bastard_. Pravuil then pulled himself out, before looking around. He realized rather quickly that he was back in the science lab, the familiar setting bringing back memories of when he was still on the ship.

Pravuil nodded. "Good, we took the right one." He then turned to Kalo, before bending down and hooking his arms under Kalo's shoulders. "Just a little more..."

"Mmph... Keelah..." Kalo grunted loudly, before he was feebly able to push himself up into the med bay. Pravuil pulled back with all his might, doing his best to drag Kalo onto the floor. There was little else the quarian could do, and on the first attempt Pravuil was unable to succeed. The aqueron grit his teeth, breathing in and out before attempting to pull Kalo up.

This time, he was successful, though the two of them landed in a heap on the floor.

Immediately, Kalo flopped off of Pravuil, the aqueron standing up and looking around at the room. He then looked to Kalo. "Where are the immunoboosters?" he asked.

Kalo lifted his hand, feebly pushing himself into a seated position. Pravuil followed his hand, seeing a small refrigeration unit of to the side. "Just give it to me, and... I can administer it on my own..." The quarian coughed, instinctively bringing a hand to the front of his face mask.

Pravuil nodded, rushing over and opening the refrigeration unit. Upon opening it, he saw an object that looked somewhat like a syringe. He then pulled it out, showing it to Kalo. "Like this?"

Kalo nodded. "Yes, like that," he said.

"Good." The aqueron then rushed to Kalo, gently holding the syringe out to Kalo. The quarian took it, before bringing it up to a particular port on his arm. He then winced in pain, pressing down on the syringe. There Pravuil watched as a dark fluid entered the tube. Kalo sighed in relief, before laying his head back against the nearby wall.

Pravuil leaned forward. "Did it work?" he asked.

Kalo sighed. "We will not know for certain," he said. "Not right now, anyway. It takes time for the immunobooster to take effect, you know."

"I guess that's fair," Pravuil replied. He then sighed, sitting down on the floor and leaning back against the table. He chuckled, looking up. "It seems so strange how just a few days ago, I was here as your prisoner." He smiled. "Fate works in strange ways, my friend."

"Perhaps," Kalo offered, offering a weak chuckle. He then looked to the ground. "But now that we are here, what do we do? We are only two men deep in enemy territory."

"Well, your friends are still captive, from what I know," said Pravuil. "It would be suicide to assist them now, with our numbers." He then shook his head. "And I doubt we can go to Punargathana."

Kalo frowned. "So we leave them here?" he asked.

Pravuil frowned in turn. "I don't know," he admitted. "It's difficult to parse what our next move should be."

"I refuse to leave without my friends," Kalo replied. "I know Jodie would do the same for me."

Pravuil frowned. "Jodie?" he asked.

"Our human spirit-touched," Kalo replied. "She's the leader of our group."

The aqueron's frown only deepened. "Wait, Jodie?" he asked. "As in,Jodie Holmes?"

Kalo nodded, shifting his posture. "Yes," he said.

"I thought she looked familiar." Pravuil looked down, rubbing the back of his head. "Then she was close to..." He frowned. "Why would she betray the commander?"

"She saw what she should not have seen," said Kalo. "I cannot explain it. Perhaps if we find her again, I will let her explain."

Pravuil sighed. "Oh, this changes so much..." He shook his head. "And spirit-touched! How did Shepard not know she was-?"

But before he could finish the question, the door opened. Pravuil jumped up, instinctively turning to a fighting stance as he faced the door. There, he saw what looked like an exion, his golden eyes glowing in the darkness as Pravuil began to snarl. He noticed then that the exion was flanked by a pair of others, and they quickly snapped their weapons up, pointing them at Pravuil.

The exion stopped, looking to the quarian behind Pravuil. At the step the exion took, Pravuil stepped forward, his hands held up.

"Don't come any closer," Pravuil replied.

The exion stopped, but soon after a tolahña stepped forward. "Well, this is unexpected," he said. "What is this..."

He then paused, seeing the quarian on the floor. The tolahña froze, watching as Kalo turned his helmet towards him. They both froze upon making eye contact with each other, before they turned to the aqueron standing at the doorway.

Pravuil frowned, shifting. He said nothing, standing in front of the quarian protectively. He looked to the tolahña, masking his surprise at how little he actually did when faced with the particular circumstances laid out before him. He then began to tense up, expecting the exion and the two guards to leap into action.

But instead, the tolahña pushed past the aqueron with very little effort. He then knelt next to the quarian, nodding. "You all right, mate?" he asked. "Your friend Jodie was worried about you."

Pravuil suddenly shot up, before looking at the tolahña. "What?" he asked.

"Jodie..." Kalo looked up. "Then you have met her?"

The tolahña nodded, before standing up to the two guards. "It's alright, boys, I think they're with us." He then turned to Pravuil. "Unless you're a turncoat?"

"I was... simply coming to help him," said the aqueron. "He was injured, and his suit was opened. I came here to get an-"

"He was wounded?" asked the tolahña.

"It is alright." The quarian released a cough, but Pravuil noticed it was not as strong as before. "We have dealt with the immune system problems. Still, I suppose you can help deal with my illness? The immunobooster will only be helped by rest."

"Right away." The tolahña gestured to the two guards. "You two, come over here. Get him onto the table."

With this, the guards entered, helping Kalo to stand up. The three of them moved to the table, Pravuil stepping forward. He moved next to the tolahña.

"And who exactly are you with?" Pravuil asked. "If you're not here to arrest us..."

"Oh, we're with Punargathana, mate," said the tolahña.

Pravuil sighed. "Of course," he said. He shook his head. "What have I gotten involved in?"

"You tell me," the four-eyed alien replied.

Pravuil sighed, looking to the ceiling. "It looks like I'm going to be fighting alongside a terrorist organization," he said. "I don't particularly like the idea."

But the tolahña simply shook his head. "I think you'll find it's more complicated than that."

They then turned to look to Kalo, the quarian sighing as he settled onto the table and began chatting with the two guards. Kalo seemed a little more at ease than before, and his voice was not so raspy. And as he watched them, Pravuil could not help but feel a weight being lifted off his shoulders.

The tolahña then turned back, extending his hand to Pravuil. "The name's Vi'ram, mate," he said.

Pravuil nodded, turning and bowing to the tolahña as he shook his hand. "Pravuil Soryel," he replied. "I hope you can prove to me that I am not making a mistake by siding with you."

"You'll see," Vi'ram replied. "You'll see..." Vi'ram then turned to the exion still at the door. "Tell Jile that we've got..." He then turned to the quarian. "Kalo, was it?"

Kalo paused, turning to the tolahña in surprise. "Yes," he said.

Vi'ram nodded, turning back to the exion. "Tell him we have Kalo here," he finished. "I think the boss would be glad to hear that they won't have to search for him before we set off."

"Yes, sir!" The exion saluted, before he walked away.

Pravuil frowned. "So where exactly is this boss?" he asked.

Vi'ram chuckled. "Funny you should ask, mate," he said. "She's busy in the Tayurmya, trying to get some prisoners out..."

* * *

"And I'm back."

Algun Ran stepped back into the control room, Ji'rel looking up at him as his hands flitted across several monitors. "So now we're up to yellow alert," Ji'rel said. "I've been looking through the hallways again, but whoever it is we're dealing with is good."

"Can't find them?" asked Algun.

"No," Ji'rel replied. He leaned back. "They keep vanishing on us, crossing a lot of distance pretty quickly. It's sure throwing the guards for a loop."

"Weren't we supposed to have more of those things?" Algun asked.

"One of them is close to sniffing them out," said Ji'rel. "I've pinned them into a control room."

"A control room?" Algun tilted his head to the side. "They went there?"

"One of them can turn invisible," said Ji'rel. "But don't worry, we've got her. She won't be able to escape, and neither will her turian friend."

Algun frowned. "She roped the turian with her?"

"Yes," Ji'rel replied. "But we've got it under control. We'll be back to green before we know it!"

Algun nodded. "As you say..."

* * *

Kasumi heard a loud rushing of feet from outside the control room. Upon hearing them stop, however, she paused, looking back to Xerxes.

"Oh dear," she said, leaning as close as he could to Xerxes. "I think we've got guests outside."

Xerxes groaned. "What do we do?" he asked.

Kasumi winked, before vanishing from sight. "Just follow my lead."

Xerxes blinked, before slowly moving over to where Kasumi had just stood. "They'll know there are two people in the room," he said.

"We'll see about that," Xerxes heard Kasumi's voice say.

The turian paused, and then gingerly walked over to the control panel, He looked out to the side, before leaning in close to the control panel.

At that moment, the door burst open, and Xerxes abruptly turned. "Hands in the air!"

The turian paused, before raising his hands in the air. He felt something get deposited up the sleeve of his shirt as soon as he did. He blinked, looking on nervously as he looked to the group of four guards that had perched in front of the door. He watched them nervously, watching as two of them approached.

"Strange," said the first guard. "There was another in here, I swear."

Xerxes chuckled, adopting a smile as he began to look over. "Well, you never know with these things," he said. He then noticed one of the guards turn his head. "I don't think you-"

But before Xerxes could say much else, the guard pounced, jumping onto an invisible force that held his arms above the ground. He then leaned forward, punching something in the air. Shortly afterward, Kasumi materialized in front of everyone. The thief was undeterred: she brought her omni-tool hand forward, socking the guard in the stomach. This guard doubled over, but before Kasumi could stand up, the other one took his place, forcibly grabbing her arm and pushing her onto her stomach with her arm twisted behind her.

Xerxes felt the object in his sleeve, and then realized faintly that there was a sharp edge pressing lightly against the hide of his talons. He blinked, realizing what Kasumi was doing.

_Oh, you were always so clever..._

The turian rushed towards the nearest guard. He then gripped the handle of the little blade with his talons, before pulling it out and forcing it into the body-suit of the nearest guard, who had turned to witness the action. The guard cried out in pain, but Xerxes only wrapped his arm around the guard's neck before stabbing the guard two more times. The guard cried out in pain, and as Xerxes deposited the body, he went straight for the nearest guard.

This guard was quick on his feet, able to deflect the blade with the butt of his assault rifle. However, time in the galaxy's underbelly had trained Xerxes well: as soon as the guard raised his weapon, Xerxes reached for it, yanking it out of his hand before stabbing him. The turian heard a punch off to his left, but he paid no attention as he went in for another stab. The guard feebly put his hands up, but it was too late as Xerxes then dropped the blade and opted to slash this guard across the chest with his talons. His talons dug deep into the skin, and when they shredded it the guard cried out, falling over.

Xerxes then turned over, seeing Kasumi rolling to her feet. The thief kicked her legs out, catching the last remaining guard in the stomach. Xerxes then turned, grabbing the gun in his possession before turning to the guard and firing it. This distracted the guard, and before Xerxes could do much else, Kasumi rushed up, decking him across the stomach. The turian watched as the guard shook a little, before he fell to the ground unconscious.

In the aftermath, Xerxes nodded, looking down at the weapon in his hands. "Well, if nothing else, we're armed," he said.

"Small comfort, that." Kasumi rushed back in, before closing the door behind her. She fiddled with her omni-tool, before Xerxes saw a door panel turn red. "There. That should keep any others out."

"Let me guess," said Xerxes. "We've got to disable that security function all over again."

Kasumi nodded, opening her omni-tool. "I got too far away from it," she said. "Worse, now that they know we're here, we're going to be stuck here for a while." She shook her head. "It can't get any worse from here, though. I can figure my way out of-"

And then, the glass around the control panels shattered. Xerxes cried out, grabbing Kasumi and falling under cover as more rounds of plasma pushed through. Xerxes then growled, before pushing himself to his knees and planting the rifle on and hiding behind cover.

"You just _had_ to say it," said Xerxes.

Kasumi shook her head. "Just make sure they can't stop me," she said. She then opened her omni-tool. "Keep me covered!"

With this, she began hacking into the panel in front of her. Xerxes shook his head, before taking a lull in the gunfire to peek his head out and shoot back.

* * *

Valentine unleashed another scream, his senses still addled somewhat by the drugs. He had long since passed the point of caring about the ring in his ears; now it was only pain, pain on his flesh, pain on his eyes, indescribable pain that never let up. He found he could not even keep up with the things the interrogators shouted anymore, nor could he squeeze his eyes tightly enough to drown out the incessant overload.

After some time, he felt this state ebb back slightly. In its wake, he felt absolutely dizzy and disoriented: it was not a state he could really say anything in. He found he could open his eyes, though he was only greeted with the sight of the room spinning around him.

" _Who do you work for...?_ "

Valentine could hardly muster up the ability to respond. He let out a soft moan of relief, blearily looking around as the world spun circles around him. He clenched and unclenched his hands, his mouth lolling open.

" _Well? Who...?_ "

Valentine looked up, trying to remember what he had been doing the past... hour? Two hours? He no longer knew: his sense of time had been distorted beyond all belief. It was difficult, between the bouts of pure pain and feeling like he was trapped in a large water tank. He lolled his head to the side, staring at his surroundings in his half-conscious state.

An eternity seemed to pass. Finally, Valentine opened his mouth.

"Fuck... off..."

He heard someone shout something indecipherable, but before the pilot could internalize it he felt the pain return at full force. He let out a guttural cry, squeezing his eyes once again. It felt like his veins were being cut open from within his own body, the sheer agony still as fresh as when he first felt it who knew how long ago. He cried out in anguish, struggling against his bonds as he threw his head back, anything to end the pain.

And as he cried out, he thought he could hear a slight gurgle from a distance.

* * *

Jodie blinked in shock as Aiden gurgled. "Already?"

Aiden trilled further, Jodie blinking as she pressed her back against a nearby wall. "Huh. That's interesting..."

"What, already?" asked Kim.

"Yeah," said Jodie. She then looked over to Kim as she pulled out a rifle from her guard uniform. "We should find the door."

"We should," said Kim. "While we do that, have Aiden do his thing."

Jodie nodded. "You know what to do, Aiden," she said.

Aiden clicked a couple of times in confirmation.

* * *

Valentine heard the distorted question once again. The pilot still swam in a sea of sensory overload, the question hurting his ears afresh even though he had the feeling he should have been used to it by then. The light was still sensitive on his eyes, and as he whimpered softly in pain, the pilot thought he could sense the whisper getting in his ear, softer and softer and...

He then frowned, suddenly noticing that it was much less bright in the room. The question also began to sound clearer, and the pain in his leg he had been feeling subsided to little more than an annoying paper cut. The pilot swallowed, feeling his hands, feeling as if the room had returned to normal.

He paused, taking in the sudden sensation while doing his best not to move very much. He knew any little movement could give something away, and he had the feeling that the sudden lack of effect the drugs had on him was not planned by his interrogators. Thus, he remained still.

And then the machine right by him beeped in protest. All eyes, including Valentine's, turned to the machine, the scientists frowning.

"What?" asked one of them. "Already? He can't possibly have built up a tolerance to the drug that quickly!"

Another scientist waved the machine off. "Eh, just give him another dose," he said. "He'll be back in that state in no time."

"As you say." The first scientist then walked to the machine, immediately turning it on. Valentine immediately felt the old sensations return, but this time they faded away, the world remaining rather normal.

"W-what?" one of the scientists asked, immediately noticing Valentine's lack of drugged movement.

Valentine allowed himself a smirk, leaning over to the scientist. "Hah, I guess it's true what my superiors say: no man gets left behind."

The scientist closest to the machine then frowned. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Oh, it could mean a few things," said Valentine. "It could be the spirit-touched we brought with us, for instance."

"What?"

Before any of the scientists could answer, the doors to the room opened. Valentine looked over, seeing two armored guards enter. Before he could say anything, though, the guards picked up their weapons, and quickly dispatched the team of scientists in the room. It was all over in a few seconds, but Valentine knew it wasn't over yet.

"There's an observation room nearby," he said. "I think there's-"

And then, one of the guards shot out a pane of glass, the sound of the glass shattering interrupting Valentine. The pilot blinked, turning as best he could in his restraints to hear the surprised cries of a few observers. He then looked past his chair, seeing the guards dispatch them as well. As soon as they were dispatched, silence reigned in the two rooms.

Valentine blinked. "...well, they're not there anymore."

"No shit."

Valentine smiled at the familiar voice that came from one of the helmets. He then watched as the shorter soldier rushed over to Valentine. He then watched as the cuffs holding him down to the bed were undone in one single click. He lifted his arms, the motion a little more sluggish than usual as he rolled to his side. He then slowly pushed himself off.

"Okay, you can move," said Jodie. She then nodded, before shrugging. "Sorry I can't take the helmet off."

"Hey, I have good voice recognition," Valentine replied. "Always works on the ladies, don't you know."

Jodie chuckled as she shook her head. "How are you still able to crack jokes at a time like this?" she asked.

"Well, I imagine now is the part where shit's about to hit the fan," said Valentine. "And until I get in the cockpit, I do what I can to lighten the mood."

"Well, we won't have much time to have the mood lightened right now." The unfamiliar soldier came up to Jodie and Valentine as she reloaded her rifle. "We've broken your pilot out, but the fact there was an observation station means there was a camera feed. As soon as anybody else sees that, this place is going on orange alert. Worse, we'll have targets on our back the whole time."

Valentine nodded, standing up. His footing was a little shaky, but nevertheless he stayed standing. "Then we better get out of here," he said. "And we should find the others, too."

Jodie nodded, before gently grabbing Valentine's wrist and walking towards the door. "Then let's _go_ ," she said.

With this, the three of them left the room, Valentine staying behind Jodie and her mysterious companion as he cast a glance behind them. The mysterious companion then turned forward.

"Well, I guess I better call the cavalry now."

Jodie frowned, looking to her. "You hadn't yet?"

"I was saving it for when things got hairy." The stranger opened her handcom, before looking out. "And I suppose now is the best time to roll it out..."

* * *

Algun had barely settled back in his chair when an alarm pinged on the lower levels.

Ji'rel sighed, turning over and opening the holographic display for Algun. "What now?" the tolahña asked.

Algun shook his head. "So much for being cornered in the..."

And then, he looked at the display. And what he saw was not the control room that Ji'rel had mentioned, but rather video feed from one of the interrogation rooms below. He then leaned forward, his jaw dropping at what he saw.

"What in..."

Two guards had just barged right into the interrogation room. The two of them shot up all the scientists, even firing into the observation room. There was a brief conversation, and then the two guards left with the prisoner being interrogated. The technician then looked, realizing the prisoner was the pilot from the other ship in the galaxy.

He then frowned, looking over to Ji'rel. "No..."

Ji'rel turned, his eyes widening in shock as he saw the feed. "What?" he asked. "There's..."

"You don't think Punargathana got bold enough to attempt a break-out here, do you?" asked Algun.

Ji'rel blinked, watching the footage as it looped. Then, without hesitation, he turned right over to the console next to him. He pressed a holographic button. His eyes loomed on the red button next to it,

"Attention all units!" he shouted. "We are now on orange alert! We have Punargathana in our ranks! I repeat, we have Punargathana in our ranks! Commence orange alert measures!"

Ji'rel then closed the handcom, looking back at Algun. Algun was only able to nod, and he looked out to the window as he saw the guards unsheathe their weapons.

"Better safe than sorry, right?" asked Algun.

"Who knows how many more of those Punargathana soldiers are in our ranks?" asked Ji'rel. "We've got to make sure this doesn't get any more out of hand."

At this, the artician could only look out to the window. He breathed in, watching as the prison began to display glowing orange lights.

"Why do I have the feeling this is only the beginning...?"

* * *

As the orange lights began to light up, prisoners in the lowest cell block began to stand up. This was abnormal: usually, the lights only flashed up to yellow, before going to green shortly afterward. The orange light was a new sight, and it caused some confusion for some of the prisoners.

The gaunt aqueron stood up. He remembered the mysterious blue woman who had passed by his cell much earlier. As he looked at the orange lighting of the Tayurmya, he frowned, standing up. With limbs stronger than he might have expected, he looked up, glancing across the hallway to a praetorin who was likewise looking in confusion.

"You've never seen an orange alert before, right?" asked the praetorin.

"No..." said the aqueron. He then stepped forward, noticing guards rushing to a certain spot in the Tayurmya. "Do you believe that blue woman...?"

"Asari, I think they are," said the praetorin. He turned to the aqueron. "She might just have tripped up the Tayurmya's security."

The aqueron gave a smile, the first he'd given in quite a few years. "Interesting."

The praetorin shrugged, looking over to the aqueron. "Then what do we do?" he asked.

The aqueron stepped back. "We wait," he said. "If it turns out a particular way, we might have hope after all..."

* * *

Jodie turned down the hallway, Kim in front. "So we've got Valentine," said Jodie. "Now where do we go?"

"The prison blocks themselves," said Kim. "The others are likely to be around there." She then paused. "Our top priority right now is to get to Kasumi. I have a security alert right now, it says there's an invisible woman pinned at one of the Tayurmya's control panels with the turian."

"Xerxes..." Jodie turned to Kim. "Then she's already trying to escape!"

Valentine chuckled. "I guess that's one advantage to having a thief on your team," he said. "Makes your life a little easier."

"Well, they can't hold it down on their own," said Kim. "The cavalry is already making their way there, but we should aim to get there too. The more people we can group together, the better our chances of-"

The two of them then stopped however, holding Valentine in place behind them as they saw a few guards. Before they could move, though, the guards noticed them, and they were quick to pull out their weapons. Jodie had just pushed Valentine back into cover when the plasma rounds began to fire past the aperture of the hallway. They zinged past, Jodie and Kim pulling out their weapons.

"And already, we've got issues." Jodie shook her head, before hefting her weapon and leaning over cover. She then fired at one of the guards, taking one of their shields down. She then heard the second guard begin to choke, and she ducked back behind cover as Kim took over and shot the first guard down. After a couple of seconds, Jodie heard the choking guard go silent, and then she peered over cover to see he had slumped over his friend.

Jodie nodded. "Let's keep moving," she said. She then burst around the corner. "We've got to-"

And then, Aiden trilled in terror, before she saw Aiden's blue shield go up around her. She tripped, suddenly rolling out past the bodies and against the outcropping of a nearby door as she pulled herself up in time to see guards come from behind her.

"Goddammit..."

Jodie shook her head, before raising her assault rifle. She noticed that Kim and Valentine were still across the hall from her, before noticing Kim firing down at the guards. She then fired her own assault rifle, her first shot going wide before the second shot hit the dead center of one of the guard's chests. As he fell, though, another one took his place, though Kim was quick to take this one down as well.

Jodie was about to move, but before she could, Aiden's shield came up again, the shield deflecting plasma bolts coming from Jodie's left. She then turned, seeing a group of four guards rush at her.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," she said.

Jodie immediately turned, firing her rifle at one of the guards that was rushing her. Before she could do much else, though, they suddenly became too close to fight. She saw Kim dispatch one of them, but the remaining three got close enough that Jodie had to duck underneath and roll out of the way. She then pushed one of the guards up against the door, watching it open as she rolled into the room. She grabbed one of the guards by the neck, before slamming it down onto a table. The guard fell motionlessly, Jodie turning and barely dodging a punch aimed straight at her face.

She was about to retaliate, but the guard was suddenly brought down by plasma file. Kim rushed in, Valentine coming up behind her as he knelt down and grabbed one of the spare assault rifles. They then turned around, Jodie barely seeing the guards that rushed forward before the door closed.

"Great," said Kim. "They're already gunning for us."

Jodie frowned, opening the door. As she did, though, she jumped right back behind the side of the door, watching as a hail of fire that was not directly coming from in front of the door. Valentine and Kim both fell back, ducking behind a table as they surveyed the direction their enemy came from.

"Shit!" Kim brought her hand up to where her ear was. "Punargathana, we've run into guards in the lower levels! Send back-up immediately!"

Jodie nodded, before looking to Aiden as she looked to her weapon. "How many are out there, Aiden?"

Aiden trilled, Jodie's eyes shooting wide open at the response. "And counting?" She shook her head. "Dammit, we'll have to hope reinforcements show up soon..."

She then shook her head, before looking up at him. "Do what you can to thin their numbers a bit," she said. "I have a feeling they'll figure out what's going on, but you need to act somehow!"

Aiden chirped, and then Jodie began firing into the crowd of guards that had begun gathering there.

* * *

"Alert: new security update."

Sura turned to the geth. "If it's the orange alert thing again, I know," said Sura. "Haven't you already got that under control?"

"We still don't know how he's doing that," said one of the bound technicians. The second technician, now conscious, nodded in response.

"It's a geth, idiots," said the asari. "Of course it can." She then turned to Legion. "What is it now?"

Legion then looked to the side, and Sura watched as a window appeared by the panel. "We believe this may be pertinent."

The asari then watched as surveillance camera footage began to play. There, she saw two guards pushed back into a room somewhere, likely a science room from what she could tell. She also saw a bunch of guards outside, though they were exchanging fire at each other. Sura then frowned, before nearly jumping at the familiar form she saw behind the two security guards.

"They've got..." She shook her head, turning to Legion. "Holy shit."

"We have also extrapolated Goto-Thief's location," the geth continued, indicating the screens.

Sura turned, seeing Kasumi and Xerxes pinned down in a control room, watching as Kasumi worked hard at her omni-tool while Xerxes was only pulling the trigger of his rifle. As the camera cut to something else, however, she saw that there were guards fighting other guards from where the fire came from. There were still too many guards shooting at Kasumi, but as it was...

Sura blinked. "No way..." She then turned to Legion. "They're all crafty people, you know that?"

"Affirmative," said Legion. "It will not be so risky to save them, but..."

"But...?" asked Sura.

"We are not certain of the best course of action against the guards," Legion continued. "We have no means to divert guards away. We cannot do that without being noticed here. We need reinforcements."

"But those seem to have arrived..." Sura frowned, looking at the surveillance footage. "Then what do-"

And suddenly, she held still. She thought back to the old aqueron she had passed, and what he had told her. She then thought of all the prisoners, and the sheer number there must have been in the prison at that time. And then, she smiled.

She then looked to one of the technicians, before bolting towards them and pointing at them. "You," said Sura. "Is there a way to communicate to the prisoners?"

The first technician blinked. "Y-you're not seriously considering-"

"Can we communicate with them?"

"U-uh... all the cells have a smaller PA system attached," said the other technician, crawling back against the wall. "They're a PA system for, uh... visitors."

"No such thing as a conjugal visit?" asked Sura.

"N-no..." said that technician.

Sura then paused, rubbing her chin. "And if they exist in the first place, then we can hack into them and give them a message."

The two intern's eyes widened. "You're not seriously..."

But Sura turned to Legion. "Geth, I know you can access the cell doors from a control room," she said. "Can you open all the doors across the entire Tayurmya?"

"Warning: this platform will require at least one minute to prepare to unlock all doors," said Legion. "We also calculate this plan's chance of success at 33.5%, dependent on whether doors can be coded to unlock in synchronized fashion."

Sura simply grinned. "One minute will be more than enough," she said. She then looked around, before noticing a microphone right next to where she stood. "First, I've got to jury-rig an audio system right from this very control room. And to do that..."

Her fingers then flitted across the panel, and she grinned when audio settings appeared on the holographic display.

"Thank you, desk job," she whispered as she began to navigate the audio settings, her fingers flying across the panel's holographic keyboard.

* * *

The older aqueron sighed, looking around at the orange lights as they flashed around. He eventually moved to sit back on the bed in his cell, the older alien sighing.

As soon as he sat down, he saw his PA system open up with a beep. He frowned, not expecting any visitors, before he leaned close.

" _I think it's working, right?_ "

The aqueron jolted in surprise at the voice that sounded. It was not any voice which was intimately familiar, but as soon as he heard it, he found it was vaguely familiar.

" _It is. Good._ " The voice cleared her throat. " _I know all of you in the Tayurmya must be confused. Well, whatever the case, don't be: this is going out across all cells..._ "

The aqueron jolted, before looking across the hall. The praetorin blinked, pointing at the aqueron. There was a collective murmur that he was then able to pick up just outside his cell, before he turned his attention back to what was being said.

" _I think most of you may be interested in knowing what that orange alert is about,_ " she continued. " _Well... Some of us have gotten some escape attempts together, and it looks as well like Punargathana got involved. We've all banded together to get out of this damn place, and the fact that we're at orange level right now means we may just succeed._ "

The aqueron paused, and then his eyes widened as soon as he recognized the voice of the asari.

" _Unfortunately, I can't say it's been a success yet,_ " said the asari. " _But you know? That-_ " And then, the aqueron heard static interference within the call. " _...sn't mean an-n-nythi-til we can get out. W-w-we're not having an eassssshhh..._ " Part of the speech then got lost in the static, the aqueron leaning forward knowing that the remaining control center was likely interfering. " _...ever the case, if w-w-w-we can get this-this-this-thi-appen, then we can all fight our way out..._ "

After a brief outburst of static, the message stabilized. " _I repeat, we can all fight our way out of the Tayurmya if we all play our part. The guards are not enough to stop us, and they are concentrated elsewhere. If we fight, we can break out! It may have seemed dismal, but we've come this far! If we can get this far in this facility, anything is possible!_ "

She then paused. " _Now, there's always risk,_ " She continued. " _But if we can get this far, I think there's a chance we can get out, isn't there? And as long as there's a chance, and there's something worth fighting for, we should fight! And now that we can, it's more important than ever!_ "

And then, the aqueron jolted upon hearing the door slide open. He then turned, looking out to the praetorin on the other side. As he stood up, the old aqueron felt a surge of hope bubble through his body, and then he used that to lift his hand as he approached the aperture.

Sure enough, he passed out of his cell with no problems. He looked all around his section of the Tayurmya, seeing that several other prisoners had gotten the same idea. He then looked out, breathing in and out.

_Spirits, she actually did it..._

He then grinned, looking to everyone who still remained in their cells. "Well, you heard the lady!" he shouted. "We've got to take control of our own destinies from here!"

There was a collective shout from various people around him, and as the aqueron turned, seeing more people step out of their cells and congregate in the hall. He then watched as the praetorin stepped out, looking around nervously.

"Come on!" said the aqueron. "We might just have a chance! So let's take back what's rightfully ours! They can't keep us confined here for the reasons they did! Let's take this place, and show them what we're made of!"

And a louder shout shone through, the prisoners beginning to pour into the adjoining hallways, no doubt towards guards. As he witnessed this, the aqueron was joined by the praetorin.

"I can't believe this has actually happened..." said the praetorin. He nodded, frowning. "They'll be armed, though."

"Death would be a preferrable fate to what would be in store if we lived," the aqueron replied.

The praetorin nodded. "True," he stated. He then turned, a smile playing on his snout. "Let's watch this place burn..."

* * *

Sura then nodded, looking over to Legion as the geth moved away. "You think that did it?" she asked.

Legion nodded. "Affirmative," said the geth. It then turned to the two technicians, before its head plates moved. "We have all of our necessary data. We have devised a plan to help the others and escape the Tayurmya."

"Nothing about how we're going to get out of this galaxy, huh?" asked Sura.

"No data available," said Legion.

The asari nodded, shrugging. "Well, even if you didn't, I'll bet you anything our friend has a way out," she said. "So let's go meet up with them and figure out what our next move is."

"Affirmative," said Legion.

The geth then walked away from the panel, Sura moving to follow suit when she spotted the two technicians. She then nodded, before rushing forward and knocking the first one out cold.

The second technician jumped. "Are-are you mad?" he asked.

"Sorry," said Sura. "We can't have you disrupting our way out. Just consider this a parting gift."

With this, she knocked the second technician out, before rushing out of the control room to join Legion.

* * *

Algun slammed his hand on the panel. He had watched it all unfold on the security system, but now that the prisoners had been released, he witnessed various footage of the violence. From one camera, he saw a ra'ken help a praetorin overpower a guard and take his weapon. On another, a praetorin had used his tail whip to shatter the glass of the guard's helmet. On another, three prisoners overpowered a guard, beating him to death.

The carnage was real. And he was quick to move.

"Shit!" He shook his head, looking to the only physical button on the console. "Dammit, I can't believe I have to do this."

He then leaned forward, slamming his hand on that button hard enough to break it. Immediately, all the lights around them began to flash red. Ji'rel then leaned forward, looking to the microphone, looking outside.

"Alert!" the tolahña shouted. "The Tayurmya is currently on red alert! Requesting back-up, _now_! We have a riot on the Tayurmya! I repeat, we have a-"

And then, the door to the control room they stood in opened. Before either of them could react, a group of armed men suddenly rushed forward, tackling the two technicians to the ground. Algun felt his hands forced behind his back, and he was only able to look up at the armed men as they peeled away.

A single man approached, quite obviously the leader of the pack from what Algun could tell. "Aw, they already triggered the red alert." He nodded, looking to the underlings as they looked to the control panel around them. "Oh well."

"What are you?" Algun asked.

"Punargathana," the leader replied. He then looked to the two men that took their places where Algun and Ji'rel stood. "We're not going to kill you. We're just going to disrupt your operations."

Algun grunted, shaking his head. "Really?" he asked. "Punargathana? You'd never do something this bold!"

The leader only nodded. "Times change," he said. He then turned to the others. "You know what to do. Our party gets out of this prison alive, no excuses!"

* * *

Kasumi ducked below, suddenly seeing the video footage come up. She blinked in surprise, but before she could say much more, she heard shouts from below.

"Holy-Kasumi, look at this!"

The thief peeked over the edge of the control room. To her great surprise, she saw the people attempting to suppress her and Xerxes get set upon by various people. Some looked remarkably similar to the guards, but others very clearly were prisoners. She witnessed as prisoners rushed forward and tackled some of the people firing at them, before some others were shot down by the people in guard uniform. She blinked in surprise, also noticing that the direction of fire shifted: instead of firing at her and Xerxes, the guards below were firing away from them.

Kasumi grinned. "Well, I can't say this is an unwelcome diversion." She then turned to her omni-tool, able to kneel as she continued hacking. "Now I can actually hear myself think."

"You're still going after that security option," said Xerxes.

"Hey, we need a way out, don't we?" Kasumi asked. "I'm just making sure we've got a way out."

"Well, you might want to take note of this," said Xerxes. He then pointed at the video footage that was playing.

Kasumi turned, before looking at one round of footage. She blinked, seeing a firefight between two people dressed as guards and a third person. When she leaned closer, though, her eyes widened, and she recognized Valentine ducking behind an operating table.

She blinked, before looking back up to Xerxes. "You don't think that's Ashley and our fearless leader, do you?" she asked.

"It could be," said Xerxes.

Kasumi squinted, and then after a little bit she nodded, smiling. "No, that's definitely our fearless leader," she said. "I mean, look at how short she is!"

Xerxes snorted. "Really?" he asked. "You're identifying her by that?"

"Hey, how many people of that height do you know?" Kasumi asked. She then turned. "Well, we've got to reroute it there. We'll just have to do this, and..."

And then, Kasumi's omni-tool beeped. She smiled, before walking away from the terminal. "Good, we've got it." She then rushed straight to the door. "We'll have to go down a couple of levels to get there."

"And we'll be out of here," said Xerxes.

"I hope," said Kasumi. "I guess we'll have to ask her what the plan is when we meet up with her."

With this, the two of them walked right into the hall. Xerxes began to run behind Kasumi, the turian following the thief as she ran to a double door. When she opened it, he realized it was a staircase.

Xerxes nodded, rushing down it behind Kasumi. "Well, let's hope she's got one," he said. "Getting off this place won't be easy!"

* * *

Aiden trilled in surprise. Before Jodie could parse exactly what Aiden was trilling about, however, she saw a group of guards get pushed to the ground. And then, before she could take much stock, she saw another guard get pushed away, surrounded by a blue aura. She then watched as fire came from that direction, before she shook her head and turned to another guard. She took this guard down quickly, before noticing the guards numbers were starting to dwindle.

And then, Jodie watched as the last of the guards fell to gunfire from Kim. She then blinked in surprise, looking over at all the carnage that had been wreaked on the guards. She then exhaled, before stepping beyond the portal.

"Ah, and there's the accidental racist."

Jodie frowned, before turning and seeing Sura leaning against the wall. Behind her, Legion's headflaps moved, and it tilted its head in curiosity.

"Accidental racist?" asked Legion.

Jodie sighed. "Really?" she asked. "You're bringing out that joke at a time like this?"

"Well, someone needs to lighten the mood after all the insanity we've just been through," Sura replied.

Valentine stepped out from beyond the doorway, followed shortly by Kim. "Hey, I thought that was my job!" said Valentine.

"Hey, I got here first," said Sura. "It's my job."

"Very funny, but that doesn't get us anywhere." Kim crossed her arms, looking at the asari. "You're Sura, aren't you?"

The asari frowned, looking over at the masked exion. "You don't sound like anyone I know," she said.

"That's because I'm not," Kim replied. She then turned her attention to Legion, before walking up to the geth platform. She tilted her head to the side, examining him. "Fascinating... You're a geth, aren't you?"

"Affirmative," Legion replied. "Alert: the life signs of the platform in front of us are not organic life signs."

Sura frowned. "What?" She then leaned over, looking at Kim. "Non-organic?"

"Your geth friend is correct," said Kim. She then pressed a button, and suddenly the black helmet which had obscured her face up until that point faded away, and Sura saw Kim. "I am one of the exions."

Sura frowned. "Exions?" she asked. "The hell are those?"

Kim blinked, before shaking her head. "We haven't got time to explain right now," she said. "We've got to go find your other friends."

"Yes," said Jodie. "We just need to find Xerxes and Kasumi, and-"

"Present!"

Everyone there jumped, before turning around to see a turian running down the hall to meet them. Jodie's face lit up, and she immediately rushed towards the turian. "Xerxes!"

"Jodie!" Xerxes and Jodie collided in the middle of the hall, pulling each other into a hug. The two of them held that, before Jodie pulled away.

"Xerxes, you're okay!" She sighed in relief. "Oh God, I thought they'd... I thought you were... Oh, I'd never have forgiven myself if-"

"Hey, don't worry about it," Xerxes replied. "I knew what I was doing when I pointed Kasumi at you. I can't believe you of all people were the one who finally got me to dip my toes back in there."

"Well, on the flip side, you're doing it for the right side of the law this time." Behind Xerxes, Kasumi materialized, before smirking over at Sura. "Oh, hey, glad to see you again."

Sura shrugged, responding with a grin of her own. "You know, I'm actually glad to see you too," she said. She looked over to Xerxes. "And I'm glad to see you're in one piece."

"Well, you know how turians are, Sura," Xerxes replied. "We're tough, and-"

"Um, am I the only one who cares about getting out as quick as possible?" asked Kim. "Red alert has already been triggered. Any minute now, the Obschesto's militia will come pouring into this place to stop whatever could have kicked it to red alert, and I would like to be out of here _before_ that happens."

Kasumi and Xerxes blinked. "You're not Ashley," said Kasumi.

"No, I'm not," said Kim. "But Ashley is elsewhere, waiting for us to get out so we can make our escape from this damned place. And our men are just starting to figure that out."

"Actually, I've already got that," said Kasumi. She then opened her omni-tool, showing Kim a map. "Just follow me, and we'll be out of here in no time."

Kim frowned. "Wait, how did you get that?" she asked.

"We stopped by a control room on our way here," said Xerxes. "The technicians there were... _kind_ enough to let us grab some data."

Kim looked at the map, before rubbing her chin and examining the route Kasumi wanted to take. She then nodded, blinking her odd synthetic eyes. "Wow, I didn't even think about that..." She then nodded. "Actually, this will work, and we'll be out of here in no time." She nodded. "Come on, let's get out of here."

"Good," said Kasumi, turning down a corridor as everyone else followed him. "I've had enough of this place to last me a lifetime."


	22. Chapter 22

Jile sat back, looking up at the news reports. The breaking news had come on, and there they saw an image of the Tayurmya. Various military personnel had begun surrounding the compound, with some people radioing in just oustide. The scene seemed like something straight out of a fantasy film, and Jile could only grin in satisfaction at the startled expressions on the newscasters' faces.

"How can you be smiling at a time like this?"

Jile turned his head, seeing Ashley poke her head in. Behind her, the aqueron could see Liara leaning forward in curiosity, with Kolyat taking his place next to her. Jile's grin only turned, and he turned to the newscast.

"Come on, you can't tell me this isn't what you guys call karma, right?" asked Jile. "They say this place can't be broken into. And what's the first thing they say once it all goes bad? 'Hey, Punargathana broke in'!" He chuckled, shaking his head. "You have to admit, fam, it's kind of beautiful!"

"Maybe, but shouldn't you be paying attention?" Ashley asked.

"Bah, fam," said Jile, waving his hand dismissively. "I've set the boss' comm signal to priority. The second she contacts me, that newscast is going away. And then we'll-"

As if on cue, the news broadcast cut out, and was replaced promptly by a single line. " _Jile, come in!_ "

Jile tilted his head, gesturing to the holographic image. "Like so." He then leaned forward, tapping a button on the interface and leaning forward. "Let me guess, boss," he said, his hands already flying across the interface of the transport. "Come pick you up?"

" _Yes,_ " said Kim. " _Meet us at Rendezvous Point B_."

"You got it." As soon as Jile said this, the shuttle rocked slightly as it lifted from the ground. "Engaging stealth. We should be there in a minute."

" _Good,_ " said Kim. " _We'll see you soon, then._ "

With this, the link cut out. The broadcast did not return, and Ashley looked outside to see them lift from Ru'val's garden in short order.

"Well, I guess we better get ready, then," said Ashley. She then turned back to the main compartment, looking to Liara. The drell next to her nodded, before switching sides.

As Kolyat sat down next to Sa'lem, the young tolahña nodded. "So it's time, huh?" Sa'lem asked.

"Looks like it," said Kolyat. "I can't wait to get out of this damn galaxy."

"Neither can I." All eyes turned to where Wilson sat between Sa'lem and Druvak. "It's been thirty years." He then looked down. "Will anyone I know there still be alive?"

"We will worry about that later, Master Wilson," Druvak replied. "For now, we will have to hope we can escape."

"Yes," said Liara as she looked to the door. "Let's hope..."

* * *

"We're almost there! Keep moving!"

Jodie glanced behind her, looking at the empty hallway. No guards had been able to follow their escape. While she did see a couple of prisoners tag just behind the group, Jodie considered it a relief rather than a bother. Thus, she kept running, Kasumi having turned on the flashlight on her omni-tool.

It did not take them long to come across a security checkpoint. Kim rushed ahead, before looking back. "I've got this."

With this, the exion rushed forward. The security gate was suddenly completely disabled, and Kasumi was able to rush right through with no trouble at all. As soon as she saw this, Jodie and the others rushed on through, and before long they were traversing their way across the sewers of the Obschesto once again. They then moved quickly, Jodie and the others hearing shouts behind them as some of the prisoners fled into the sewers.

Sura crept forward, moving quickly as Kim led them through a series of corridors. "You think they'll get caught?"

"It probably won't matter anyway," said Kim. She then looked to Sura and the gun she held. "Good, you brought a weapon."

"Why's that a good thing?" asked Valentine.

"Code Red was called," said Kim. "They've literally brought in the army."

"Through the sewers?" asked Jodie.

Kim nodded. "Most likely." She then peered past a corner, before turning down it, the group following her move. "Have to cover all the entrances, after-"

And then, Jodie heard loud gunfire from behind her. She jumped, looking back as she gasped.

"Oh no..."

Kim frowned, before pulling out her gun. "We need to move," she said. "Let's hope they haven't started flowing in through the way we need to get out..."

As if on cue, though, a laser sight pointed right down the hall. Aiden shrieked, but before Jodie could react, the blue shield went up around her, and then she watched as a plasma round splattered on it. Jodie ducked down immediately, seeing as a pair of soldiers rushed right past the corner, one even leaping across the waterway. Jodie watched as one of them was quickly surrounded in blue light, before pushed away and into the water.

As soon as she saw this, Jodie pushed Kim down, aiming her rifle and shooting the man who had leapt across the way. He let out a loud cry, before falling over and into the water below.

Kim growled, before lifting her rifle up. "Shit," she said. She shook her head. "Whatever you do, keep moving!"

Kasumi nodded. "Right behind you."

Jodie nodded, before Kim immediately rushed forward. The exion then turned to the right, only to find three more soldiers rush forward. She barely dodged a shot, jumping straight into the water below as the men fired at her. Jodie frowned, before raising her rifle and firing at the soldiers to distract them.

It was then that Kasumi appeared out of thin air, punching one of them in the gut. She was barely able to see the electronic charge before the second soldier took a swing at her with the butt of his rifle. Kasumi barely dodged, and as the third soldier turned to fire at her, Jodie saw Kim dart up from the water. She then yanked the soldier into the water with her, and before long Kasumi had tripped the soldier who had swung at her. Jodie brought up her rifle, firing at him as he went down. As he splashed into the water below, Jodie rushed forward, leaping over the water and joining Kasumi as she looked and saw Kim pull herself out of the water, various bits of dirt and grime sticking to her orange hair.

"Come on," said Kim, who immediately kept moving as soon as she was out of the water. "We've got to move!"

Jodie nodded, before she then led them down the sewers. At an intersection, she turned right. Another soldier burst forward, but before he could do anything he was biotically shoved back. The group moved past him, and before long they had come up to a nearby ladder.

"Good, this ladder at least hasn't been seen by anyone," said Kim.

She then watched as the rest of the group moved forward. "Right, non-combatants first," said Kim.

Xerxes nodded. "Right." He then came forward, rushing up the ladder.

As soon as he began climbing up, Jodie saw a soldier come out from behind them. She cried out, Aidan appearing briefly around the turian just in time to deflect a plasma shot. She then knelt down, firing at him. She had barely just taken his shields down when she saw another body rush past that soldier, this one leaping across the waterway. That second soldier was pushed back, before a third and fourth soldier took their place.

"Shit, come on!" Kim shouted. She then pushed Valentine up the ladder, before helping Kasumi there.

Jodie growled, before looking up at Aiden. "Do something!"

The entity clicked, and before Jodie could say much else a fifth soldier suddenly stilled. As Jodie fired at the third soldier, this fifth soldier turned, firing a shotgun into the back of the fourth soldier. The third soldier cried out, but before he could say much else he was shoved to the side by a biotic push from Sura.

A sixth soldier then appeared, swiftly grabbing on to the fifth soldier's arm. As soon as the fifth soldier snapped out of it, more soldiers appeared, and they began firing at the group even as Legion began to ascend the ladder. Jodie cried out as she nearly dodged a plasma round, the round splattering on the ceiling behind her as she ducked down.

"Dammit, faster!" Kim pushed Kasumi onto the ladder almost as soon as Legion had moved up far enough.

"We're working on it!" shouted Sura, before she shook her head.

The asari then pulled up a ball of great biotic energy, before throwing it right at the center of the sewer. As soon as it was in place, the soldiers began to float around it. It gave them a temporary reprieve from the fire. Jodie sighed, before picking off some of the floating targets.

Then, the fire resumed quickly, and before Jodie could do much else, she ducked, and found herself falling straight into the water. She kicked up, before finding the ground and pushing back up. She then looked to the side, suddenly pushing her back against the nearby wall to dodge a few well-timed shots before Aiden's shield came up. She then pushed forward again, grabbing the ledge and attempting to pull herself up.

She then felt someone grab her hand, before pulling her up. "Go! I'll be right behind!"

Jodie nodded, before feeling her hand get placed on one rung of a ladder. She then began to climb instinctively, looking behind her as she climbed. She moved quickly, seeing Kim grab the rung right beneath her feet.

But before she could ascend, Jodie then watched a bolt of electricity rush straight for Kim. It impacted, and then the exion froze immediately. She stood stock still for a second, Jodie instantly knowing something was up.

"Kim!" Jodie immediately swung around the ladder, firing at a few masked soldiers. She took as many of them as she could down, before rushing over to Kim. She then reached forward, catching Kim just as she fell. Aiden screeched out loud, before Jodie stabilized herself, gazing at the soldiers in front of her. She then frowned, before slinging Kim's body over her shoulders.

"Aidan, keep them off of me!" she commanded.

She then began to climb the ladder, the climb a little slower due to the weight on her back. As she climbed, she saw people fire at her. She cried out as she felt a round just graze her leg. The burn stung quite profoundly as she did her best to climb up. "Come on..."

She then looked over, seeing soldiers begin to rush up to the ladder behind her. One rather roughly grabbed her ankle, and Jodie cried out as she felt herself get pulled down a little. She managed to hang on, though Kim shifted precariously on her shoulders. Jodie's eyes widened, and then she looked out to the manhole, seeing Xerxes madly gesture someone over to her.

Jodie frowned, before kicking at whoever had grabbed her. This freed her ankle, and she then quickly began to pull herself forward, kicking away at another hand. She then turned, looking to see someone primed with a weapon that was aimed directly at her.

But before that weapon could be fired, Jodie suddenly felt Kim's weight get taken off her shoulders. Before she could react, someone grabbed her highest wrist. She then looked up, seeing Ashley yank hard to pull Jodie out of there. Her torso had just cleared the manhole when the man fired, a large round of plasma arcing barely past her as it flew up into the sky.

Jodie then turned, watching as Ashley then grabbed a grenade from her belt, activating it and dropping it into the manhole. As soon as she had, she pulled Jodie out, and then Aiden slid the manhole cover shut. A second later, a muffled explosion sounded from within, but by that time Jodie was already being pulled to her feet.

"Come on, soldier!" Ashley shouted. "We've got a transport to get to.

Jodie blinked, a little dazed at first. However, after a second, she nodded, breathing in. "Yeah... Yeah." She then rushed forward, seeing the transport in full view in an especially expansive alleyway.

The group rushed in, and as the transport doors closed, it immediately took off. Jodie noticed that Xerxes and Valentine had placed Kim's body out, the exion looking to be out rather profoundly. Jodie then looked up, seeing the large group inside the transport as Sa'lem leaned forward, looking at Kim as they placed her on the seat that he used to occupy.

Wilson came forward, frowning. "What the hell happened there?" he asked, pointing to Kim.

"She had us all leave the sewer first," Sura explained. "She was the last to start climbing out."

"Yeah," said Jodie. "But before she could, she was shot with some electrical bolt."

Wilson groaned. "Dammit, they had a localized EMP charge on them," he said. He shook his head, before turning to the cockpit. "We'll have to worry about jumpstarting her when we're on the Lying Bastard." He then turned to the cockpit, looking to Jile. "Get us there first!"

"You got it, mate," said Jile. He then looked back to Wilson. "And we're starting the bomb too, right?"

"Ah, right, yes, of course," Wilson replied. He shook his head. "Get that going, too. We'll need it ready the second the Lying Bastard is out of the port."

Jile nodded. "On it!"

* * *

Ru'val sighed, looking out to the space beyond the Obschesto. He glanced over to Karshia, the praetorin sitting back and looking to the side. She kept her hands where Ru'val could see them, however, and she made no moves as she sat back, the holographic panel open in front of her.

And then, his earpiece buzzed to life. " _Oy, Ru'val, come in!_ "

Ru'val shifted, bringing his free hand up to his ear. "What is it, Silman?" he asked.

" _We got them out of there, mate!_ " said Silman. " _You know what that means!_ "

"They're out of..." He chuckled. "I knew there was a way they could!"

Karshia frowned. "The Tayurmya?" she asked.

Ru'val nodded. "We will be ready shortly."

" _Good,_ " said Silman. " _Get ready. You're firing on my signal, which won't come for a while. We've got to get them on the ship first._ "

Ru'val nodded. "But these things take a while to charge." He then nodded to Karshia. "Get started on it."

Karshia nodded, hesitating slightly before she began to type. She paused when the parliament man pushed the barrel of his small fire-arm closer to her head, but otherwise she then began to flit her fingers across the holographic interface.

"As you command," Karshia replied. She then sighed, before looking out to the space beyond the Obschesto. She paused, before looking up. "You know... it might be faster to just fire it from here."

Ru'val frowned. "The hyperspace bomb?" he asked.

Karshia shrugged. "It may not go too far from port, but it might not work too badly."

The tolahña frowned. "I don't like this alteration," he said.

"Well, it's less stuff I'll have to worry about," said Karshia. "And that'll save a little time. Not to mention it could throw them off and split their forces."

"It could make an escape easier," Ru'val said. He chuckled. "You're shrewd, Karshia. You get that from your mother."

"Hey, it helps, you know?" she asked. "So from the port it is. Nobody's ever attempted this, you know."

"Then we will be the first," said Ru'val. "I hope you know how to make sure they do not know until the last minute."

"Trust me, I know," said Karshia. She sighed. "This better not backfire on us. If it does, my ass is on the line just as much as yours."

* * *

Sugrak walked over to the line that had formed around the Tayurmya. A few prisoners had attempted an escape outside of the Tayurmya, but they were generally stopped as soon as they got too far outside the compound. At that point, the Tayurmya was full of people either running out or falling down to the hail of fire set up by the army around them.

The admiral shook his head in dismay, before walking over to a younger praetorin. He then frowned, looking at the praetorin and recognizing him.

"Where is Karshia, private?" asked Sugrak.

"We don't know, sir," he replied. "We've attempted to contact her, but she will not answer."

Sugrak shook his head. "She must still be with Ru'val, then." He shook his head, before walking towards the line. The private followed. "What in the city could be so important that he's holding her back from duty?"

"I don't know sir, but that does not change the situation," said the private. He then opened his handcom. "I don't know the exact details of what's going on: we've hacked into the security feed, and all the technicians that were present are either bound or getting beaten violently."

"Please tell me you've sent in the infiltration teams," said Sugrak.

"They're in the sewers now," said the private. "And actually, sir, there is a situation with that right now."

Sugrak frowned. "Some of them got past that," he said.

"I'm afraid so, sir," said the private. "We've already sent in the order to get extra security to the ports all around the Obschesto, sir."

Sugrak blinked. "All around the Obschesto?" he asked. "Why would they go there?"

"The group in question vanished soon after their run-in with our forces, sir," he said. "We suspect they may try to get off the station. We'll stop them before they do."

"Good," said Sugrak. He shook his head, looking up at the Tayurmya. He then turned down, looking as more people began to filter out. "It's a true shame, private. I never knew this place could be broken out of."

"Neither did most of us, sir," said the private. He then looked up. "Let's hope we can contain the damage."

Sugrak nodded. "Keep your eyes and ears on com chatter near the ports just in case," he said. "We may pick something up there."

* * *

"We have a problem, sir."

Pravuil and Kalo both turned, Vi'ram doing likewise as an exion appeared in the doorway. They all frowned, Vi'ram stepping forward as the exion stood in the doorway of the lab. The tolahña stepped towards the exion, before gesturing to Pravuil to follow.

"What is it now?" Vi'ram asked as they both walked to the cockpit.

"Well, sir," said the exion as he opened the door to the cockpit. "I think you better see for yourself."

And then, Pravuil and Vi'ram both stepped in. Their eyes widened as they saw a group of soldiers gathering out by the security checkpoint, with several ra'ken bearing parts for an anti-aircraft weapon. Pravuil frowned, looking over to Vi'ram as he pointed at the weapon still in assembly.

"They are willing to assemble an anti-aircraft weapon here?" Pravuil asked.

"Doesn't surprise me, mate," Vi'ram replied with a shrug. He then turned to look out. "Oh, this isn't good..."

"Can we do anything, sir?" asked the exion.

"Hm... that's the problem," said Vi'ram. He then turned to one of the exions at the pilot's chair. "Have you been monitoring comms chatter?"

"Yes, sir," said the exion. "From what I can gather, they're doing this at ports all across the Obschesto."

"Then they don't know it's tied to us yet," Vi'ram replied, rubbing his chin.

Pravuil stepped forward. "It would be foolish to act now," he said. "If I know them, the second we act from here they will swarm this location."

"And that won't help anyone..." Vi'ram frowned, shaking his head as he opened his handcom. "Jile, come in! We've got bad news, mate."

" _Let me guess, fam; anti-aircraft?_ " Jile replied on the other end of the comms line.

"Yeah," said Vi'ram. "I don't know how you want to deal with that since you're not a pilot, but-"

" _Don't worry about a thing._ " Vi'ram jolted, looking up in surprise at the new voice. " _Leave that to me._ "

Vi'ram frowned. "And who're you?" he asked.

" _You may recognize me as Valentine,_ " the voice said. " _Buckle up, folks, I think I see our destination, and the problem. And it's about to get bumpy..._ "

Vi'ram's frown only deepened, and he looked out of the cockpit in confusion. The anti-aircraft weapon was just being readied, and Vi'ram could see a large group of soldiers standing at the ready. Vi'ram held his breath, turning to Pravuil before looking back out. All eyes were out towards the checkpoint, where most of the soldiers were congregated.

And then, they saw a strange blue thing form in the air, almost like a mach cone. It moved eerily slowly and surrounded nothing, but as it drew closer, Vi'ram was suddenly able to see it was headed straight for the anti-aircraft weapon.

Vi'ram's eyes widened. "Mate, what the-"

And then, within the cone, a transport appeared out of thin air. By then, it was too late, though: despite the shouts of the soldiers below, the transport dipped down and crashed right into the anti-aircraft weapon. It came apart around the blue cone, and Vi'ram instinctively ducked as the parts flew everywhere, even at the Lying Bastard. He heard a part bump against the hull of the ship, and as he looked up he watched as the transport skidded to a stop.

In short order, the transport doors opened, and then several people jumped out with their guns blazing. Vi'ram recognized the armor of Ashley Williams, and as she and another asari stepped out, he turned to Pravuil.

"Well, I guess that's _one_ way to deal with it," said Vi'ram.

Pravuil nodded, before looking to them. "I suppose it makes no difference now."

Vi'ram nodded, grabbing his pistol from his attire as he chanced a glance outside and saw the asari throw a large biotic ball towards the center of the group of soldiers. "That it won't," he said. He then nodded to the two exions, Pravuil grabbing his own assautl rifle. "Come on, let's get them the reinforcements they need."

Vi'ram then opened the door to the airlock, Pravuil and the two exions following behind in short order. The decontamination cycle seemed to go slower than usual, but once the door opened Pravuil ducked down by the railing, opening fire on the soldiers. Vi'ram peeked out and noticed that Williams and the asari had perched behind a piece of the anti-aircraft gun for cover, and that they had been joined by Liara and someone. He faintly noticed someone flitting between cover with the boss over his shoulders, Vi'ram looking over in alarm.

"Get over here, mates!" Vi'ram shouted. He then moved somewhat, shooting from behind cover at the soldiers and taking one down.

A few of the group seemed to get the hint, and after a second a group of unarmed people rushed forward. Vi'ram recognized the drell that Jodie had rescued at the front of the group, and he led Wilson forward. Kim was draped over his shoulders, and he was followed rather shortly after by a man who looked recognizably human, and a turian. Jile rounded the group, and just as he approached the airlock he turned and fired at the soldiers to keep their heads down.

"Get in!" shouted Vi'ram. The tolahña then ducked into the airlock, the rest of the noncombatants piling in to the airlock as the door closed.

"Hey! Watch the doors!" the human cried out as he pulled someone's limb into the airlock as the door closed. "It doesn't like a highly compressed decontamination cycle!"

"Says the guy who just crashed a transport into an anti-aircraft weapon!" Wilson fired back. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"Crazy thoughts!" the other human shouted back. "That's the only thing that'll get us off this rock, though!" He then turned to Vi'ram, pointing at Kim. "I think you'll need to jumpstart her? I'd get the jumper cables, but I don't know where they are."

"It doesn't work like that!" Jile replied as the decontamination cycle began.

"Well excuse me for taking a liberty with a joke!" Valentine replied. "I kind of don't have-"

And then, the door opened, with Jile spilling out into the cockpit. The new human then rushed over, running a hand over his head as he gently pushed an exion out of the way. He then moved his hands around the control panel, touching all sorts of buttons. Vi'ram looked up at the action to see Jodie just running up to the remains of the anti-aircraft gun.

"Ah, good to be back," said the human. He then looked back at Vi'ram. "Oh, sorry, didn't introduce myself. I'm Valentine, I'm the ship's pilot."

Vi'ram frowned, rubbing his chin. "I hope you don't crash into ships to stop them from attacking."

"No," Kolyat replied as he stepped to the side, letting Wilson rush to the med bay with Kim. "He doesn't. I don't think he does."

"I wouldn't know," said the turian. "I'll get out of your way. Come on, kid."

With this, the turian gently grabbed Kolyat by the arm, and he led him out of the cockpit. It was fortuitous as well, for shortly afterward, the door opened again. This time, Jodie came rushing in, looking straight to Valentine as most everyone else spilled in behind her. Legion pulled itself up and moved straight for the door, to the rest of the ship, Kasumi rapidly jumped to the other side of the room, Ashley pushed in and braced herself on the seat, and then Sa'lem and Druvak both spilled in behind them as well.

"Well, that was rather a tight fit," Druvak commented. "I do hope never to-"

A loud slap suddenly sounded in the cockpit. All attention went to Sura and Pravuil as she stood up. "You've got some nerve showing up here after all you did!" she shouted. "What, are you going to-"

"I helped Kalo here," Pravuil quickly replied, nursing his cheek as he pulled himself up. "I helped him escape."

Sura paused, looking down at the aqueron. "And you're certain of that," she said.

"He is in the med bay, if you wish to look," he said. "He got sick, but he should still be alright."

Sura frowned, before turning towards the door. "He better be okay back there, otherwise I'm shoving you back out that airlock," she said. She then pushed past Jodie, before entering the ship proper.

Pravuil then pulled himself up. "Well, that was not expected," he said.

"After the way you sold us out?" Valentine asked. "Please, I'm not sure what you were expecting."

"Probably not a slap to the face, that's for sure," said Kasumi. She looked to the others. "It's a little crowded in here, isn't it?"

Vi'ram shook his head. "We haven't got time to worry about that, mate," he said, pointing outside. "Look."

At this, the group saw the soldiers regroup outside the Lying Bastard. Guns were pointed right at them, and Valentine leaned forward, frowning.

He then looked to the panel in front of him. "Well, party's over, folks," Valentine replied. He then cracked his knuckles. "It's been fun, but unfortunately we'll have to go. So I'll see you folks in a bit. Or maybe not."

He then tapped a series of buttons. He then hit one in particular at the end, putting his hands in place as he looked up. However, as he pulled back, he discovered the ship was not moving.

"What the...?" Valentine went back, realizing that the holographic panel he had pressed was not working. He pressed the button a few more times, and then he noticed the error message displayed above the button.

"Shit, they've got this thing on lockdown," said Ashley.

"Figures," Vi'ram replied as Pravuil stood up. "Should've known they'd do that, mate."

Valentine shook his head, before swiping the panel away. He then looked to the side, before standing up and pulling at one of the panels right by the pilot's chair. "Well, it's a good thing the Corsairs saw something like this coming," he said.

Jile frowned. "The Corsairs?" he asked. "The hell are those?"

Valentine grinned. "People I'll be _very_ surprised by if they don't let me in after all I've been through," he said. He then looked to the button. "Well, I've never had to do this before, so here goes nothing!"

He then slammed down on the physical button, before returning to his seat and putting his hands in position. He then yanked back, the ship lurching back a little. It was only able to move a short distance away. There was a slight tug, however, and it kept the craft in place. He then looked over to Jile, gesturing him to the panel.

"Hey, you know how to navigate these panels, right?" he asked. "I'll need your help."

Jile nodded. "What for, fam?" he asked.

"Well, the override didn't work, so I'll need you to help me cut power to the entire ship on my cue," said Valentine. "We'll be floating in nothing until the engines come online again, but it'll get us out of here."

Vi'ram chuckled. "Oi, mate, he's crazy!" he said. "I like him already!"

"Well, someone has to call the shots," said Jodie.

Jile nodded, standing close to Valentine as he looked outside and saw the soldiers moving towards the gangplank. "You might want to hurry this up, fam," said Jile. "Looks like they're coming"

Valentine nodded, before leaning forward in his chair and looking out. He lightly pushed forward as Jile began flying through menus, the aqueron looking up as the group began to hear the sounds of something being slapped onto the airlock door.

"Shit," said Jodie. "Charges?"

"Let's hope not," said Ashley. "I don't think we-"

"Right, got it, fam," said Jile hurriedly. "We've got to move!"

"Right!" Valentine leaned forward, looking back to the group as his arms tensed. "Find something to grab on to! This is going to be bumpy!"

Before he could say anything more, he abruptly pulled back on the controls. "Drelly thing! Now!"

Jile jolted, but as soon as the craft moved, Jile abruptly pressed down on a button. Suddenly, the lights all around them went out, and all went eerily quiet. Jodie gripped the bulkhead in the darkness, keeping her eyes trained outside.

She saw the port slowly get a little smaller. After a second, she saw the end of the gangplank, and the shocked faces of the soldiers there.

Valentine let out a deep sigh. "Great," she said. "Now we've just got to get the engines back online," he said. He then pointed to the airlock door as he flicked a switch with his opposing hand. "Jodie, what can you do about those things they put on the airlock door?"

Jodie shrugged as Valentine's panel turned back on. "Me?" she asked. "Aiden's the one who handles that, not me."

Valentine turned with a grin, tapping a few commands on the console. "Ah, right, the ghost," he said. "He's got the charges?"

Aiden chirped in the affirmative, before Jodie nodded. "Working on it," she said. "I just hope this doesn't backfire."

Valentine nodded, before hitting one more command. Pretty much immediately, the lights came back on, and Jodie heard the engines start to whirr. "I don't like doing a full vessel power cycle," said Valentine. "The engines tend to come online a little slower than I'd like in that scenario. Especially now."

"Well, now, they'll call in the fighters, and they might take a bit to get here," said Jile. "Man, we're _really_ going to send them into panic mode soon!" He chuckled, looking at Vi'ram. "Hell, if we get caught I just want to laugh at how they'll look at us when they bring us in."

"Well, that's not in the plan." Valentine then tapped something on the panel, and then he placed his hands in position, two circles appearing around his hands. "What is in the plan is to get the fuck out of here. What do we do?"

Vi'ram nodded, turning to Jile. "Jile, tell Silman we'll need that bomb now!"

The aqueron nodded, turning away and bringing his hand up to his ear. As he turned away, Vi'ram turned back to Valentine.

"We've got someone ready to fire one of those hyperspace bombs," said Vi'ram. "We just need to be in position."

Valentine grinned, looking as an alert appeared on the side of his panel. "So shake the fighters," he said. He grinned, before leaning forward. "Looks like I finally get to actually be part of Blasto and crew!"

Vi'ram frowned, but before he could say anything, the ship lurched forward rapidly, Jodie gripping the bulkhead as it dipped down. It was then that she saw a round of plasma fly right above the craft.

* * *

Karshia leaned forward, adjusting a slider. "Do you think seventy-four percent is too much?" she asked.

Ru'val frowned. "I would say it's just right," he said. "It can't be open for too long, after all."

Karshia nodded. "That's exactly what I thought." She took her hand off the slider. "Father always tells me it's good to double check on that."

The tolahña nodded, before looking down outside the ship. They stood in silence, watching the outside as Karshia looked to the tolahña. It went on a long while, before Ru'val looked down to the ground.

"I know you will see your father again," he said.

"Probably," said Karshia. "Why do you bring that up?"

Ru'val sighed. "Can you promise me something?" he asked.

"What?" Karshia said.

"When you see your father again, send him my apologies," Ru'val said. "I know he will be quite disappointed to see my involvement in their escape."

Karshia nodded. "I'll send them to him."

"Thank you," said Ru'val. He then looked outside. "I wonder when they are going to tell us."

And then, the two of them saw a form zip right by the viewport of the ship. They watched as two fighters chased this ship, the ship turning around and banking out away from the Obschesto.

Karshia nodded. "I think that's answer enough," she said. She then began to move her fingers all across the control panel. "Alright, come on, bomb..."

* * *

Valentine grit his teeth as he dipped down. The ship lurched forward, and Jodie saw the curve of the Obschesto as they grew closer to it.

"Can't you keep control of this vessel, Master Valentine?" asked Druvak as he held on to the bulkhead.

"Excuse me for not having been here in a while!" the pilot replied. He then swerved around the ship lurching as he did what was obviously a barrel roll judging by how the Obschesto's edge moved around the edges of the viewport.

"Fighter pilot instinct," said Jodie. She then looked out. "Dammit, where is the bomb?"

"Whoah!"

Valentine cried out again, before dipping down. Jodie ducked out of instinct as the top of the Lying Bastard just barely grazed the Obschesto itself. Valentine pulled away, Jodie gripping the bulkhead for dear life as a pair of plasma shots just missed the ship. Valentine managed to stabilize the ship, but not before another barrel roll had to be done.

"Goddammit, these guys better hurry..." Valentine pulled the ship up, Jodie watching as the fighters came into view for the first time.

* * *

"Charging the bomb now."

Karshia then sat back, looking over at the outside. She then looked down the barrel of Ru'val's gun, before turning back outside. "It should launch soon..."

"Let us hope," said Ru'val. He then looked outside to the firefight, feeling the ship shake underneath. He then looked to Karshia. "That is all we can do now."

Karshia nodded, looking at the fighters as they flitted about behind the Lying Bastard.

* * *

Valentine turned just in time to see a battleship charging a cannon. The cannon glowed a strange bright purple, and he blinked as he looked at it.

"That's a hyperspace bomb?" asked Valentine.

"It is when it's charging," said Vi'ram.

"Don't get into the line of fire!" Jile added. "If it hits you, it'll tear your ship apart and we'll all be fucked!"

Valentine nodded, but before he could say anything else, the fighters suddenly turned towards that ship. A fighter then approached the ship, firing at the port-based ship. Valentine then watched as the ship's shields went up, before a second fighter zoomed right past the Lying Bastard and began firing at the shields.

* * *

Karshia gritted her teeth, looking at the shields as the fighters depleted them. "Dammit, of course," she said. She then leaned over, typing away at a panel. "Getting a weapons system online."

Ru'val frowned at Karshia. "Wait, what?" he asked. "That's a little much, don't you think?"

Karshia glared at Ru'val. "You're not very good at this whole hostage-taking thing, are you?" she asked.

The tolahña shrugged, before holding his gun in Karshia's face. "Stop," he said.

Karshia shook his head. "That'll just get us-"

And then, the shields went offline. Before Karshia could react, the ship shook from an impact right up to the upper left of the ship. Karshia then looked up in fear, watching as one of the fighters rushed right at the viewport.

Before she could react, Ru'val had grabbed Karshia's arm. "Dammit!" He then lifted her out of the chair, running towards the back of the ship with her. "This may have-"

But before Ru'val could finish, the ship rocked roughly, knocking both of them off their feet.

* * *

Outside, Valentine saw an explosion blossom from the cockpit of the warship. He blinked in surprise, looking on as the fighters just barely pulled away.

But right as the explosion died down, Valentine saw a purple streak shoot out from the docked ship. Valentine was only able to turn the ship around and get a brief glance, before a flash of purple was seen in the space around the Obschesto. Valentine quickly turned, nobody saying anything as the ship lurched to the side.

And then, when the vessel turned around, they saw it: a dark hole, seemingly leading to another spot in space. It seemed smaller than the one Valentine had seen before, but he recognized it from when he first arrived at the galaxy.

"That's it!" He said nothing more, before slamming his hands forward, the vessel lurching forward. As it pulled away from the Obschesto, Valentine leaned forward, letting out a low growl as the ship moved forward. "Come on, girl, don't fail me now..."

Everyone in the cockpit saw a streak of plasma fly past the viewport, but Valentine stayed the course. He began muttering a mantra under his breath, and Aiden trilled loudly at Jodie.

Jodie took a deep breath, squeezing her eyes shut. She squeezed her hand in a fist, and then began to count down.

And then, suddenly, all went silent in the cockpit.

Jodie opened her eyes, and found they were surrounded by a starry expanse. It was black as the night, and suddenly she realized that the space around the Obschesto had been a little brighter for some reason she could never pinpoint. The difference was marked.

And then, Aiden trilled triumphantly. And it was then that Jodie leaned forward, breathing out in relief.

"Holy shit..." she said.

"Wait..." Kasumi blinked, walking forward. "You don't mean we actually managed to escape from there?"

Valentine let out a loud cry, chuckling as he leaned back in his chair. "Holy shit..." He laughed placing a hand on his heart. "Oh my god, we actually did it!"

"Most of it," said Jile. He then pointed ahead. "We're close to the wormhole to your galaxy. We have to move now, there will be a battleship guarding this wormhole!"

Valentine blinked, before scrambling back to a seated position. "Shit, you're right!" he said.

"Still, we've escaped the Obschesto," said Jodie. She breathed in a sigh of relief. "We're halfway there."

"Yep, mate," said Vi'ram. "But now, comes the hard part..."

* * *

"What!?"

Sugrak began to rush right for the nearest transport. " _We've had a contingent escape on the Lying Bastard, sir,_ " said the soldier on the other side. " _Someone managed to hijack one of our ships... They used a hyperspace bomb, sir._ "

Sugrak's hand curled into a fist. He then stepped onto the transport, his toe claw tapping against the floor in agitation. "What?" he asked. He then frowned, pounding his fist against the wall of the transport. "So they're gone!"

" _We've got our battleship around the wormhole on route, sir,_ " the private replied. " _But if they manage to get past that..._ "

Sugrak shook his head. "Dammit." He shook his head, looking up. "This has gone terribly. What's next, are these prisoners who escaped important?"

There was dead silence on the other end. Sugrak then frowned, before leaning forward. He grit his teeth, his arm shaking as he felt the rage bubble in him.

"Don't tell me..." he said.

" _S-sir..._ " The private hesitated. " _Sir, the... We believe the escapees included several of the prisoners from the other galaxy. Including the turian._ "

Immediately, Sugrak punched the wall. He hissed in pain, before turning and pacing around. "Are you kidding me?" he asked. He growled. "All of them?"

" _We don't know, sir,_ " the private replied. " _Worse, it also carried several of our own species on it._ "

Sugrak shook his head, the praetorin pacing around as the transport took off. "You are kidding me," he said. He shook his head. "Then who activated the hyperspace bomb?"

" _That is... another issue, sir,_ " said the private. " _We believe we may know who did it. The fighters who took out the ship that fired the subspace gun say that there was a tolahña in there holding a praetorin at gunpoint. And what's more, our people on the ground witnessed that one of the people who boarded the Lying Bastard prior to its escape was... Was..._ "

"Out with it!" said Sugrak.

" _Sir... it was Sa'lem K'lek._ "

And the, Sugrak's blood froze. All the anger he felt dissipated, replaced instead by a mounting sense of dread. Suddenly, everything clicked into place. The _Lying Bastard_ , Punargathana, Sa'lem... There were still holes, but suddenly he realized a few things staring him right in the face.

"No..." he said. He then looked to the transport pilot, walking to the cockpit. "Where are we headed, soldier?"

"To the ship that fired the subspace bomb, sir," said the pilot.

Sugrak nodded grimly. "I see..." He then looked to the side, looking at the floor. "Just get us there."

"Yes, sir!"

The transport sped off, with Sugrak looking at the floor in silence.

* * *

Valentine looked up, briefly seeing a strange ring close by in space. Jodie followed Valentine's gaze as the pilot frowned.

She then pointed at it, turning to Vir'am. "Is that it over there?" she asked.

Vi'ram nodded. "I think so," he said. He then squinted. "I've never actually seen it before. I thought it'd be more... flashy than that."

"You know how those guys upstairs are, fam," said Jile. "Probably made it look flashier than it is."

"Well, we know where the wormhole is," Kasumi replied. "But where's the battleship?"

As if on cue, the control panel suddenly blinked out of existence. In its place, a projection of an exion appeared again, and the exion sneered right at Valentine.

" _You didn't seriously think you would get past that wormhole, did you?_ " the exion said. "The battleship _Shardan's Hope_ will not let you pass, and if anything it will-"

But Valentine merely sighed. The exion's projection blinked in confusion, before looking at the pilot.

" _What are you doing that for?_ " he asked.

"Because we've got plans of our own this time," said Valentine. He then turned to Vi'ram. "I don't suppose you have a plan to work your way out of this one?"

"Well, mate, I-"

Before Vi'ram had a chance to reply, though, the door opened. In stepped Kim, her hair looking stiffer than usual as she stepped into the room and appraised the exion. She then moved towards the panel, her eyes glowing angrily as she then placed a hand on it.

"This one's _mine_ ," she said.

And then her eyes dimmed slightly, but she remained completely still as suddenly, the other exion's projection suddenly vanishing from view. The panel came up again, though it did flicker in and out.

Kim's hologram then briefly popped out behind a piece of projection. " _I am trying to trap him within a piece of hardware,_ " said Kim. " _Concentrate on getting us out of here!_ "

Valentine nodded, before putting his hands in position. Kasumi immediately opened her omni-tool, looking at the panel as she looked at where Kim's head still appeared. "I'll bet you ten credits I can help out somehow."

Kim's projection smiled. " _The help's appreciated,_ " she said. " _Hey, anybody got a blank OSD or something?_ "

"On it!" With this, Ashley left the cockpit.

Valentine shook his head as he continued to concentrate on piloting the Lying Bastard. As it moved, however, the panel flickered in and out for a few seconds. He then groaned, before looking up and moving his hands. The ship had a delay when reacting, however, and Valentine growled as he attempted to pilot the ship, the ship banking slightly but not enough for how he wanted to turn.

"Come on, keep it down in there!" Valentine shouted.

" _I'm doing my best,_ " Kim replied.

It was at this moment that the battleship materialized. All eyes turned to the massive ship: it was almost so large it covered their view of the wormhole out of the galaxy. It loomed above, and it was with a second glance that Valentine realized just how huge it was.

"Damn, what the Alliance wouldn't give to get their hands on that..." he said.

And ten, he realized that the battleship was pointing all its canons straight at the Lying Bastard. He then froze up, Jodie feeling goosebumps fly up her arm as Aiden trilled.

Valentine sighed, before leaning forward and pushing his hands as far forward as they could go. "Come on, girl... Listen to me!"

The first cannon fired, the large plasma ball heading straight for the ship. The panel flickered back in just in time for Valentine to register a change in the ship's speed. Jodie then watched as the projectile just barely missed the ship, a small warning indication appearing on the projections before the whole panel blinked out for a while. The engines seemed to slow down a little, and Jodie watched as Valentine smacked the hardware once.

The panel came back online: it was fortuitous, for the battleship had launched another round at the ship. Valentine just managed to pull back, stopping the ship's momentum in time to see as a round of fire streaked right past the front of the ship.

It was then that Jile jumped. "Holy shit, fam," he said. "They're actually using that?"

Pravuil frowned, leaning forward. "Curious," he said. "I have never seen them so desperate that they will use lethal weaponry to take prisoners."

"That, or they really just don't want us to leave," said Jodie. She then turned to Valentine, the pilot then pressing forward as far as he could.

As he banked upwards, though, the panel flicked out again. Valentine then blinked in shock, realizing that the Lying Bastard's trajectory was taking them straight to the hull of the battleship.

"Shit!" he shouted. He smacked the hardware again, but this time it was to no avail. "Come on, you stupid thing, work!"

The ship drew ever closer to the battleship. Before long, they noticed that the cannons had stopped firing at them. Jodie gulped, looking at Kasumi as she typed furiously away at her omni-tool. She shook her head, and for the first time Jodie could see a little bead of sweat form on the thief's brow.

And then, Ashley burst in, an OSD in hand. "I brought reinforcements!"

Behind her, Legion stepped in, the geth unit kneeling in front of the physical panel. "We will lend our assistance." With this, the flashlight head glowed ever brighter.

Then, the control panel came back online, Kim's head appearing. Before she could say anything, Valentine pulled back hard, the _Lying Bastard_ pulling back and completing a loop. The bottom of the ship just barely grazed the hull of the large battleship, and then Valentine managed to correct course before the panel flickered off for a brief second.

Kim's head appeared. " _Get the OSD in here!_ " she commanded. " _I'm going to try to burn him into the disc!_ "

" _That's madness!_ " the enemy exion replied.

" _Try me!_ " Kim shouted.

Valentine nodded, tapping an indent on the side of the panel as an OSD tray slid out. "Here!"

Ashley nodded, handing the OSD to Valentine. He quickly inserted the OSD, closing the tray before returning back to his piloting duties. The panel flickered in and out of existence once more, before it then returned fully, Valentine faintly noticing the panel shone a little brighter than before. After a few seconds, the OSD tray opened, Vi'ram pulling the disc out.

Kim's head appeared again. " _There we go,_ " she said. " _Now that he's out, it should be smoother sailing._ "

"Not really," said Jile. "They'll have several others there waiting."

" _They won't send anymore when they realize we've burned his data onto an OSD,_ " said Kim. " _They won't risk any more unnecessary captures_."

"Then that means we need to move!" Valentine pushed forward, the Lying Bastard shooting forward. "Come on!"

The pilot then leaned forward, the cannons reappearing and aiming back at them. The cannons fired a barrage of shots at the Lying Bastard, but Valentine was moving too quickly. In the one shot that predicted where Valentine was going to be, Valentine managed to roll, and then he banked hard towards where he remembered the wormhole to be. He then looked up, grinning as soon as he saw the outer ring.

"Come on..." He grit his teeth. "We're almost there..."

The battleship released a barrage of fire at the Lying Bastard, Valentine weaving through the fire as he squinted. The pilot then grit his teeth, Jodie leaning forward as Aiden clicked in determination.

The battleship sent out one last barrage of fire. But by that time, it was too late: the Lying Bastard had flown right through the ring in the wormhole. And as it did, Jodie and Valentine recognized planets, the stars growing dimmer and the colors suddenly seeming more saturated to their eyes.

Valentine clapped, looking straight ahead. "Alright!" he said. "Buckle your seatbelts, folks, we're coming home!"

"Not quite," said Vi'ram. "They'll follow us here."

And then, the group saw a barrage of fire from right behind them. Valentine cried out and swerved, but the ship rocked precariously, knocking all but Legion and Kim to the ground. The craft then began to lurch a little, moving to the left a little.

"Shit!" Valentine pulled himself back into the pilot's chair. "Damage report!"

" _It looks like the left engine sustained some damage,_ " said Kim. " _Hope you've got a plan, we'll need an army to get out of this one._ "

At this, Legion's head flaps moved. "Affirmative." It then moved its head flaps rapidly, Jodie frowning as she looked up. The motions only took a few seconds, before Legion turned to them. "Reinforcements on the way."

"Reinforcements?" asked Jodie. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Geth," Legion replied, looking out the viewport. "Geth are in this system."

And then, before anyone else could reply, a geth ship appeared in front of them. Valentine sat up, watching as another exited a light speed jump, the ships moving past the Lying Bastard. As a third one appeared, Jodie watched as the second geth ship fired a barrage behind them. A fourth ship then appeared, but Valentine noticed it was facing away from the ship.

"This unit suggests we dock with a ship," Legion said.

Valentine chuckled, watching as a fifth ship appeared. "Let me guess: you're going to take us off the grid."

"Affirmative," said Legion. "This unit will disclose your destination when we arrive. We calculate you will want to see your authorities soon."

"That would be best, yeah," said Jodie. She then looked to the ship as Valentine pulled it in close. "Hopefully they're good with ship repairs."

"We are geth," said Legion. "We can repair this vessel."

Valentine chuckled. "I _still_ can't believe I'm about to get my ass saved by the _geth_ , of all things," he said.

"We will store that data for our records." The geth unit then looked up as Valentine moved into the bay of the vessel, Jodie noticing a sixth geth vessel appearing. Its head flaps then moved again, and as soon as Valentine parked the vessel in the ship, the group felt a large vibration as the geth vessel around them began to move.

And as it moved, Jodie leaned back, sighing in relief as Aiden released a series of gurgles. "Oh my God, we actually did it..."

"No kidding." Kim's body then moved, her eyes shining brightly as she turned to Jodie. "Never in my wildest calculations would I have guessed that we'd be able to pull that off."

"Well, it's not like we haven't defied impossible odds before," Ashley pointed out as she stood up. "I'd think this was a little bit crazier than Saren, though."

"It was," said Jodie.

"Well, I for one can't wait to see the look on Anderson's face when we report back to him," Valentine replied. "I guarantee no matter what it is, it's going to be priceless."

"You know?" asked Pravuil as he looked up at the ceiling of the geth vessel, before turning his attention to some geth units as they approached the ship. "I believe so as well." He then looked down. "I only wonder what will happen back home..."

* * *

Sugrak stepped up to the airlock. He only allowed himself a moment to look at the damage the fighters had done to the ship in question. He wondered if anyone had told them to hold their fire, before he shook that thought out of his head and looked behind him.

Outside, several soldiers stood with their weapons aimed at the door. "You will be perfectly safe, sir," said a soldier. "Just get him out!"

Sugrak nodded, the weight in his heart not lifting any. "Of course," he said. He then looked to the door, before sighing gently and entering.

Of course, the interior of the ship would have to be redone. He looked over to the cockpit, seeing the mangled metal and the shards of glass every which way. The fires had long been snuffed out before Sugrak had even replied, but he chanced a glance around the cockpit.

He then turned away, walking to the back of the ship. "Ru'val?" Sugrak asked. "I know you are here."

He heard a shuffle of movement to his left. The admiral turned, and then he saw Ru'val shuffle out. In his arm was Karshia, a gun held to her head. She was unconscious, but from where he stood Sugrak noticed she was still breathing. Ru'val looked at him with wild eyes, a look Sugrak was unaccustomed to seeing from him. He then stumbled forward, looking at Sugrak wildly.

"Old friend," said Ru'val. "I did what I had to do."

Sugrak shook his head, gazing at Ru'val sadly. "Of all people..." He moved slowly, his tail falling limp behind him. "Why, Ru'val?"

"I assume you know what they say about men with nothing left to lose, Sugrak," Ru'val replied. He looked out. "Sa'lem is safe with Punargathana now. They've moved him to the other galaxy, where no military here can get him."

Sugrak frowned. "You don't honestly believe that," he said. "We have sleeper agents across that galaxy. He'll be back to face us before long."

Ru'val simply flashed a sad smile at Sugrak. "Punargathana knows their tricks, Sugrak," he said. "And soon, whoever Sa'lem is with will tell more people. And they will protect him." Ru'val blinked, and Sugrak saw the residue of tears. "And there is more than that. So much more, Sugrak. Everything we have worked for to keep our galaxy secret... It will soon be for nothing."

Sugrak frowned, stepping forward. "Who do they work for?" asked the praetorin.

But Ru'val sighed. "They never told me," he said. "But I have a feeling they know people with far more power than we anticipated."

"You're saying the Alliance could be behind all this?" asked the praetorin.

"I do not know for certain," said Ru'val. "What I know, is they work for some powerful people."

Sugrak shook his head. "If that is so, why did you help them?"

Ru'val's smile fell, before he stepped towards Sugrak. "Because it is the only way to save this galaxy." He looked down. "I know you do not believe me, Sugrak, but you know what this galaxy has become since the Great Purge. And instead of rising stronger, we have only allowed excuses for destitution. And I will no longer allow myself to be silenced by those who are too blinded by vengeance to see our own faults."

"Ru'val..." Sugrak said.

"You know it is true, Sugrak," he said sadly. "You may be forced to do as they say, but I? I will not allow myself that."

"They'll kill you for this," Sugrak replied.

Ru'val remained silent. He only glanced to the side, however, and that was enough for Sugrak's blood to run cold.

Ru'val then threw the gun to the side, before lifting the unconscious Karshia and pulling her towards her father. "I surrender to your authority," said Ru'val. "You have my word that I coerced Karshia into doing anything she did to get here, and that she did not betray her home." He then looked to the young praetorin, before turning away. "I will go outside now. Your men may do with me as they wish. But I walk towards it with a clear conscience, and the knowledge that my dear Sa'lem will be safe."

Sugrak watched the tolahña walk towards the airlock. He was only able to look on as he held his unconscious daughter in his arms. He then blinked, before following Ru'val to the door. He hung behind, tears welling in his eyes as he watched Ru'val exit through the airlock. He followed behind, making sure not to touch the former Councilman. Ru'val could have sworn he saw a smile on Ru'val's face as the airlock door opened out to the docking bay. And as soon as Ru'val saw this, he could only look away, holding Karshia close as he closed his eyes and let the first tears fall in silence.

* * *

"Creator Kalo'Veera is in this room, Holmes-Anomaly."

Jodie nodded to Legion and his attendant geth. "Thanks, Legion," she said. "I'll be out shortly."

Legion bowed its head, before walking away. "We are required to look on Civilian-Krios. We will return when we are done."

Jodie nodded, before looking at the door. The ship having no windows whatsoever felt unnerving to Jodie, but she knew it could not be helped. The geth were not keen on using windows much at all: when she had asked Legion, it had explained that they were seen as structural weaknesses. She could understand that, but she felt so alien, perhaps even more than she did when she was in the galaxy. She had to remind herself that she was in friendly territory and it was but a passing issue, but she could not help but feel a little claustrophobic.

She sighed, Aiden clicking in assurance. "I know, Aiden," she said. "But it's still unnerving being in here."

Aiden released a series of clicks, before clicking at her twice sternly. "I know..." She sighed. "Well, if you say so..."

She then opened the door. Inside, two geth attended to Kalo. The quarian turned his head, the lights in his eyes widening at her as he moved a little bit. He bowed his head, before placing his hand over his heart and exhaling.

"Jodie!" he said.

"Kalo..." Jodie then rushed forward, before hugging the quarian tightly and burying her head in his shoulder.

Kalo coughed lightly, before wrapping his own arms around Jodie and pulling her closer. "Jodie..."

Jodie pulled back. "I'm so happy you're safe," she said, smiling at him. She then looked to the floor. "God, I thought we'd have to leave you behind..."

"I was fortunate," Kalo replied. "But everything that happened was out of your hands."

"Still, I pulled you into it," said Jodie. "And I didn't do enough to make sure you were safe. So that would've been on me."

Kalo nodded. "I gather Pravuil told you what happened?"

"He did," Jodie replied. He sighed, shaking his head. "I just wish it hadn't come down to that."

"I followed you here," Kalo replied. "I knew the risks of following you. And even with everything that happened, I would gladly do so again."

Jodie nodded, before pulling Kalo into another hug. The quarian leaned his head closer to Jodie, before gently patting her back. Aiden clicked pointedly, but Jodie ignored him before parting from him.

"So what happens now?" asked Jodie.

"I must contact the admiralty board, and directly." He then produced a pouch from his suit. "They were developing a cure for our immune systems, Jodie. I managed to smuggle some out with me, with Pravuil's help."

Jodie nodded. "Pravuil mentioned something about that," she said. "But why contact them directly?"

"I would consider this the greatest Pilgrimage gift in the history of the quarian people, but..." Kalo shook his head. "Something about this feels wrong, Jodie. Their conditions were strange, they would not tell me what they wanted... I suspect their motives."

"And you think they might have done something to the cure?" asked Jodie.

"Well, more than anything, we should discover how it works," Kalo replied. "But you could say that yes, I am suspicious of this cure itself."

Jodie nodded, placing a hand on Kalo's shoulder. "Then if you need anything, I may be able to help you." She then looked past Kalo. "God, you're not planning on getting the admiralty board here the same time we've got the Council, right?"

"Why not?" asked the quarian. "With everything else that has happened, we cannot afford to wait to establish ties. If we are to establish ties with anyone..."

"...then better the Council than the guys upstairs." Jodie nodded. "And with the geth, too..."

"This will be a diplomat's worst nightmare," Kalo replied.

"You're telling me?" Jodie laughed a little, before looking back to the quarian.

Before either could say much more, though, the door opened. In stepped Legion, with Kim walking not far behind. Kim greeted Jodie with a bowed head, and it was then Jodie noticed that her red hair looked rather normal again.

"Well, we made it this far," said Kim. "You haven't called the Council yet?"

"No," said Jodie. She indicated Legion. "I was going to wait until he told us where we were going."

The exion nodded. "That's what I thought," she said. She then looked over to Legion. "So where are we headed, anyway?"

Legion then nodded. "We will be arriving soon," said the geth. "The geth are taking you past the Veil. This unit calculates it is safe."

"We can lay low for a few days," said Jodie. "They won't follow us behind the veil."

"And that audience with the Council?" asked Kim.

"We'll have to hope they'll take a leap of faith," Jodie replied. She then leaned forward. "But worst case scenario, we have to wait a few days for that whole furore to die down."

"Let us hope that succeeds," said Kalo. He then looked to Legion. "And where exactly are we headed?"

"Creator homeworld," said Legion.

Kalo jumped, before stepping off of the bed. "No..." he said.

Kim frowned. "Creator homeworld?" she asked. "You mean Rannoch?"

"Affirmative," Legion replied.

Kalo breathed in sharply. "You cannot mean..." He then looked to the floor, his limbs tensing as Jodie and Kim looked on. "Will I truly be the first quarian to set foot on Rannoch in over three hundred years?"

Legion took stock of the shocked quarian. Jodie did too, before she looked back at the geth. Aiden gurgled a little as Legion's head flaps moved, the synthetic unit simply staring on.

Finally, after a few seconds, Legion's head flaps returned to their positions. "Affirmative. Awaiting further instruction."


	23. Chapter 23

Anderson rubbed his head, looking out to the Presidium. He felt a headache coming on at that moment as the stress from the past couple of days wore on.

The Council did their best to be accommodating to Anderson, but even that far into his new job the Alliance captain had been full of unfamiliar territory. Anderson had of course done his best, but he was quickly starting to see why Sparatus would sometimes mutter under his breath after Council meetings ended. It was quite a stressful job already, and he could tell it was not something he could see himself doing forever.

Anderson had the feeling that would have been true on its own. But combined with the stress of waiting for word from Jodie and the others, it had been wild. Anderson had agreed to deal with a lot of fallout, but things had been quiet ever since the incident on Kahje. As soon as Anderson had heard about the disappearance of the teenage drell, he immediately had reason to suspect that Jodie had some involvement: some witnesses had described someone who looked remarkably similar to Jodie being among the last people he was seen with. However, there was very little he could do until Jodie returned, and that was a possibility that he was not certain he would hear much from given how long their absence had lasted.

Still, he waited.

"Anderson, I'm very surprised by your vote today."

Anderson sighed, before turning to the other biggest source of his headdache: one Donnell Udina. The former ambassador trudged up to the balcony, shaking his head the whole while. However, Udina was not angry like he usually was, and it was as soon as he saw the slight upward tick of his mouth that Anderson realized perhaps this meeting would not be so annoying.

"Udina, I already told you, it's not a bad idea to cooperate for now," Anderson began.

"And here I thought you'd disregard all my advice," said Udina. "And from a former Alliance man? I'm very surprised you went along with it."

"We're not above the law, Udina," said Anderson. "Besides, the best military men know that it's not always about having more than everyone else; it's how you use it."

Udina nodded. "I underestimated you this time," he said. "I thought I'd have to ask you what the hell you were thinking again, but..."

"You might have to in the future," said Anderson.

The former ambassador grunted. "Oh, right, your 'secret mission'," he said. "You didn't think to inform the Council of its existence before now?"

"They're still gathering information, I think," said Anderson. "They were supposed to contact me via secure channel when they got what they wanted. I only wish I knew what took them so long."

"They better not be in the Terminus Systems having a party," said Udina. "If they are, 'political shitstorm' won't even _begin_ to describe the kind of trouble you'll be in."

"They're not, I know it," Anderson replied. "It just seems that-"

And then, Anderson's omni-tool beeped loudly. The Councillor blinked, both of them looking at his arm as Anderson pulled out the caller information. He then blinked, his eyes widening as he realized the source of the comm channel.

Udina peered over Anderson's shoulder, before nodding. "Speak of the devil," he said.

Anderson nodded, before answering the call and going right into the office. Udina followed, right as Anderson looked at his omni-tool. "Jodie!" he said. "It's been a while."

" _No kidding,_ " Jodie replied. " _Sorry for the long silence. A lot's been going on._ "

Anderson nodded. "Do you at least have something to show for it?" he asked.

" _Yes... We do._ " Jodie paused for a second. " _You need to bring the Council beyond the Perseus Veil._ "

Anderson jolted, and behind him he could hear Udina's foot scratch on the floor of his office. "The Veil?" Anderson asked incredulously. "Jodie, what the hell are we going to do there, get shot up by geth?"

" _Not... really?_ " Jodie coughed. " _It's a long story. Whatever the case, you have to convince the Council to go there by any means necessary. We've uncovered what Shepard was hiding. It's huge, Anderson. The Council needs to know, immediately._ "

Anderson tapped his foot, before sighing. "And what about the geth there?" he asked.

" _They won't attack you,_ " said Jodie. " _Trust me, Anderson, there is a lot to explain, and I can't do it here._ "

"Very well," said Anderson. He sighed. "I only hope I can convince them."

" _Good,_ " Jodie replied. " _Let's hope you get here soon._ "

And with this, the comm conversation was cut. Anderson shook his head, before grunting and covering his face in his hands.

"The Perseus Veil?" asked Udina. "This is insane!"

"I know, Udina," said Anderson. He then stood up. "But it looks like we don't have a choice."

Udina shook his head. "Now how the hell are we going to convince the Council to go there?" he asked.

"That, Udina, is a good question..." Anderson walked to the desk, before glancing to the side. He then blinked, looking at the former ambassador. "Udina, did I ever tell you why I sent them on the mission?"

"No," said Udina. "All I know is that you and Hackett are looking into something."

Anderson nodded, before crossing his arms. "Do you think if I told the Council what the parameters of the mission were, it might convince them to go there?"

"Depends," said Udina. "What's the information?"

Anderson then turned, before walking towards Udina. He then glanced to the door, before pulling Udina close and whispering in his ear.

"What I'm about to tell you doesn't leave this room without my authorization," he said.

Udina blinked. "Anderson, what aren't you telling me?" he asked.

Anderson then stepped back. "If Jodie is correct, everything we know about Shepard is wrong," he said. "If she's right, he may have deceived everyone. Including me."

* * *

The transport landed gently on the ground. Legion looked over to Jodie, before looking past her at Jodie's retinue. Kalo, Ashley, Sura, Kasumi, Xerxes, Valentine, Kim, Kolyat, Pravuil, even Wilson had elected to come down to Rannoch with them. Other geth were attended to by Legion, the platforms looking at them. Sura glanced at them suspiciously, before turning to Pravuil and shuffling away slightly.

Legion said nothing, turning as the geth units began to click wildly. Legion responded with some clicks of its own, before turning to Kalo. "Creator Kalo'Veera."

Kalo tensed. "Y-yes?" he asked.

"The geth have reached consensus: we wish to let you step off the craft first," Legion replied.

Kalo blinked in surprise. "Why?" he asked.

"It is your homeworld," said Legion.

"Yes, but why let me do that?" asked Kalo.

Legion's head flaps moved, before it then settled its gaze on the floor. "Alert: humans would call it a 'sign of trust'."

Kalo then frowned, looking to the door of the transport. "I doubt it will be the same as when we left it, though," said Kalo.

Sura glared at Legion, but her gaze softened as she noted the way the geth's head flaps folded in on themselves. "I'm not so sure of that now," she said. She crossed her arms, looking to the door. "Well, let's get this over with, shall we?"

"Yeah," said Kim. The exion leaned towards Legion. "Organics don't like to be kept in suspense, you know."

"Affirmative," said Legion.

And then, the door opened. All eyes turned outside, and all were immediately stopped cold by what they saw.

The transport had parked directly in the middle of a large flower field. Jodie faintly realized it looked something like the flower field that she used to imagine laid just outside the city she grew up in as a child. Off in the distance, she could also make out a series of large towers, quite obviously a major city of some kind. But from that distance, nothing looked deteriorated. The bright orange sun reflected off the windows, and the sun lit the area up with a bright orange hue, one that Jodie found highlighted most other colors around them. And right by the large towers, Jodie could just make out a large lake, one that extended off to a mountain range nearby.

The view was picturesque. And all anyone could do was stare in shock.

Kalo stepped off first, the quarian's suit crunching in the dirt beneath him. He looked around, his eyes wide in shock. He then turned back to the transport, before looking at the area around him again. He knelt on the ground, placing his hands on the soil of the planet, lifting them up and letting some sift through his hands. He marveled at the sight, taking in a deep breath as he watched the grains of soil fall to the ground.

Sura looked at the city, beholding the sight with shock of her own. "Holy shit..." she said.

Jodie was next to step off. She slowly approached Kalo, before kneeling next to him. She adjusted herself carefully, kneeling next to him and saying nothing. After a second, Kalo turned to Jodie, and she could tell from the way his eyes shone brilliantly that he must have been smiling.

"This..." Kalo bowed his head down as he placed a hand over his mask. "Keelah, Jodie, I never thought I would have such an honor." He sniffled, closing his eyes. "The first quarian to set foot in this place in three hundred years..."

"Must be a big thing," Jodie replied.

The quarian nodded. "I confess, I do not know how to feel," he said, his speech broken up by a few sniffles. "I just..."

"Then don't say anything," Jodie said as she placed her hands on his arms. "Just feel."

Kalo nodded, before turning to the side. He then looked up at the sky above him, before leaning back down and combing his fingers through the soil. Jodie looked down, watching as the soil fell down to the ground again. And as soon as it all fell, Jodie saw a light flash where the quarian's mouth would be.

Jodie smiled warmly, before placing a hand on Kalo's arm. She squeezed it, and gave a gentle nod as if to confirm that it was not a dream.

* * *

The group walked over to the city, looking around as they first came upon its broad streets. The streets looked so empty, and that gave off an unsettling feeling. However, as they moved, they all noticed something strange about the various buildings. The windows looked all clean, and nobody could detect even the slightest hint of rust on the metal of the buildings. The buildings gleamed in the light, and they noticed that everything seemed in proper order.

Kolyat stepped forward, looking up at the buildings. "It's like the quarians never left..." he said.

Sura breathed in, holding a hand to her chest as she looked at the buildings. "It does," she said.

"The geth maintained the planet after the Creators' departure," Legion intoned as he led the group into the city.

"Surely something must've gotten damaged, though," said Kasumi. "I mean, they fought a war here."

"We repaired the cities," Legion continued.

"Yes, but why?" asked Xerxes as he walked next to the thief. "I'd think it would serve no practical purpose."

At this, Legion paused, the geth's head flaps suddenly moving. After a few seconds, though, they stopped, and the geth turned.

"No data available."

It then moved on, leaving everyone else to stand there for a second to digest that information. They looked at each other in surprise, but before long they noticed the geth walking on without them. They cast one more glance at each other, before slowly moving to follow the geth.

When they caught up, they noticed Legion stood in front of a very tall building. Several balconies littered the exterior, and from where they stood the group could see various cloths adorning the entrances. It looked rather sleek, yet gave off a decadence that Jodie was not used to seeing from anything she had ever heard from the quarians.

"We have arrived at your quarters," said the geth.

Kim pointed at the building. "In here?" she asked.

"Our records state that this is what organics used to call a 'hotel'," the geth replied. "We find it is suitable for organics' needs."

"Shelter, fresh water..." Valentine chuckled. "Next you'll tell me all the levo food just grows on trees around here."

"Data acquired," said Legion. "The geth will work on procuring levo food supplies."

"Thank you," said Jodie. She then looked up. "So we're staying here."

Aiden clicked, but before Jodie could say anything, Ashley stepped forward, crossing her arms as she looked up at the hotel with a grin. "Well, I can't say I ever expected a geth to be courteous, but then again, pretty much everything about this is unexpected," she said. "I can think of much worse places to have deliberations about the fate of the galaxy."

"No kidding," said Sura. She then stretched her arms. "Anyway, I'm pretty beat. I don't know about you, but one prison break across two galaxies is enough for one day. Next chance I get, I'm hitting the sack."

"I believe we're all pretty drained after what we just managed to do," Pravuil offered.

"Yeah." Sa'lem stepped up to the hotel doors. "Come on, how do we get in? I need to sleep."

Legion then walked up to the door panel, his head flaps moving. "Accessing security..."

* * *

Jodie stepped into the room, looking to Kalo as he appraised the suite. It was large, and as Ashley, Xerxes, and Kasumi came in behind them, she noted the abandoned fireplace by the edge of the room. Off to the side, a large sliding glass door looked out to a view of the city and to the nature surrounding it. Off to the side, she saw several doors a ways off, separated by the spacious curvature of the room.

Kalo sighed uncertainly. "So this is what it was like to live before the war," he said.

"Affirmative," said Legion.

The quarian stepped forward, touching the wall. "It seems so... extravagant," he said. "This space could have been used to fit so many people. And this was only intended for a small family?"

"Affirmative," Legion replied.

"I'm... actually kind of used to this," Jodie said as she looked around.

Ashley frowned, looking to her. "You mean you've been in places like this before?"

Jodie chuckled. "For as much shit as I give it, my old job had its perks," she admitted. "Like good living spaces. It's larger than the apartment I used to have, but it did feel quite spacious there, too."

"Talk about a perk," said Kasumi. She then walked over, looking at some art on the window. "Wow... And look at that. That's from before the war, isn't it? Imagine what an art collector would ask for for something like that!"

"It'd go for a lot," said Xerxes. "Looks like it needs a restoration, though."

"It does," said Ashley. "I'm not much for art, but I know a decaying piece when I see it."

"Yeah..." Jodie then walked onto the balcony, taking in the view. The balcony was rather high, and when Jodie looked back, she saw the top of the building just above where she stood. "And this is where we're going to be while we wait for them to arrive?"

"Affirmative," the geth replied. It then stepped close to the wall. "Alert: they will be escorted here."

"And why a hotel, exactly?" asked Kalo.

"The geth have calculated the surroundings will have a calming effect," said Legion. "We calculate that tensions will run high."

"So better to ease them into it..." Ashley shrugged. "Well, you're not wrong, I guess. They'll still probably be on edge, though."

"Yeah, calculations tend to suck with that sort of thing," Kasumi replied. "But you're welcome to try."

"We have stored this data into our records," said Legion. The geth then turned, walking out of the room. "We will process data with the collective. Note: 'please enjoy your stay'."

With this, the machine opened the door to the large hotel room, promptly stepping out as the door closed behind it. They all stood in silence, before Jodie walked back in. She then closed the door behind her, shrugging at everyone else.

"Well, I guess there's no point looking a gift horse in the mouth," she said.

"Hey, it did get us out of there," Kasumi commented. "I don't mind it so much."

Ashley sighed, looking to the door. "You know?" she said. "Neither am I, now." She then nodded, walking over to the bathroom. "Well, if the geth have been maintaining this building, hopefully there'll be some running water. I'll go grab a shower, and let you know how the water runs." With this, she stepped in, closing the door behind her.

Kasumi then shrugged, before sitting down. "That does sound nice, but I'll wait for her to finish," Kasumi replied. "Besides, I'll have to know if it's worth it."

Kalo nodded, before looking outside. "Jodie... Did you want to see the outside of the city some more?" he asked.

Jodie blinked, Aiden trilling skeptically. "Well..." She shrugged. "Any particular reason why?"

"I wished to see some more flowers," he said. His words were a little shorter, though, and it was a fact Aiden immediately latched onto.

The entity trilled a warning to Jodie, which Jodie was only able to respond to with a brief glare. "I can't help but feel there's more to it than that."

"There is," said Kalo. "But... I would rather go outside with too much company. It is about something a little sensitive to quarian culture."

"Oh..." Jodie looked down, Aiden gurgling uncertainly. Jodie then chuckled, before looking up at Kalo. "Well... Sure, then," she said. She shrugged, chuckling nervously. "Why not, right?"

Kalo smiled. "Then let us go," he said. "We still have much to explore before then!"

With this, Jodie nodded, much to Aiden's shock. "Yeah..." She chuckled, before walking towards the door with Kalo by her side. "Yeah, let's go."

They then both walked out, Kasumi and Xerxes watching as they left. Xerxes sat on a nearby couch, sinking into the cushion with a sigh as he looked at the fireplace. "Mmph..." He leaned back, splaying his arms on the cushions behind him and relaxing his head.

"Actual cushions," he observed. "Spirits, I forgot how good they feel."

"Yeah, I think we all did," said Kasumi. She then looked at the door, smirking as she approached the turian. "I think they might have something going on together."

Xerxes groaned, before looking at the thief. "That's what you say about _everyone_ ," he said. "I don't think-"

The bathroom door then opened, and they both turned to look at Ashley. She then nodded, and it was only then that they noticed that not only had her hair been let down, but it was also quite damp. They heard the sound of rushing water behind her, and from where she sat Kasumi thought she could see the mirror inside the bathroom fog over from the steam.

"Well, look at this," Ashley said. "The water works. Leave it to the geth to maintain it, right?"

Kasumi smiled, before sitting on the couch. "Good to know," she said. "You finish up your shower, I'll wait for you."

"Thanks."

And with this, Ashley closed the door behind her.

* * *

Kolyat looked at the city around him, leaning against the rail as he looked out to the city. His hotel room was considerably lower on the rungs than anything else, but there was still a pretty decent view of the city around them. It was eerily quiet, but that quiet was welcome after all the noise of the past few days.

After the brief nap he had taken, those days had seemed like a bad dream for such a short amount of time. But when he woke with the sun just starting to set over the horizon, he knew from the unusual architecture and the orange light above that he was not back home on Kahje like he should have been. And that confirmed everything that had happened. The tearing from his home, the fact he'd nearly been arrested, the fact that he had killed someone...

He closed his eyes, shaking slightly as his grip on the rail tightened.

He heard the sliding door open, and then someone stepped out behind him. "Howdy, Short Stop!"

Kolyat frowned, turning behind him to see Valentine step out onto the balcony behind him. The pilot looked a little worse for wear, but he was walking for certain. Kolyat turned away, not saying anything.

Valentine shrugged, before walking to the rail and looking out over the city. "Big place, isn't it?" he asked. "Nothing like a big abandoned city to have slutty adventures in, right?"

The drell said nothing.

The pilot chuckled nervously, tapping his fingers on the railing. "Hey, at least we're here," he said. "And we have this big city all to ourselves." He chuckled. "There's something great about being the first people to walk into a city in three hundred years. It feels like we've got privilege most don't have."

"Go away." The drell turned, before sitting down on a deck chair on the balcony.

Valentine turned, frowning. He then walked over, looking at Kolyat as he turned away from him. "Something on your mind?" he asked.

Kolyat remained silent. This time, though, he did not make any other comments, so Valentine was able to look over the deck chair. The drell turned away slowly, looking at the hotel's outer wall in silence.

Valentine nodded, before sitting in a deck chair opposite to Kolat, and laying his hands on his knees. "You're not alone, Kolyat," he said.

"How would you know?" Kolyat asked. "You weren't the one who had to kill someone..."

Valentine nodded grimly. "I wasn't," he said. "But that's not what I meant." He looked to his arms. "My arms still tingle a little from what they did to me, you know? And the way they shouted..." He shook his head. "That's not something you forget so easily. And neither is the way my body would just light on fire. The way it felt like my whole arm had been amputated, even though it was still there, and feeling that over and over... I don't know if I'll ever forget that."

Kolyat turned, looking to Valentine. "And why are you telling me that?" he asked.

"I know how the mind works," said Valentine. He sighed. "There is one other thing I can tell you: don't think you're alone in feeling the way you do. And even if you don't think anyone will understand, you'd be surprised. You're not the only one who's experienced shit on this trip. And even if I don't fully get how you feel, we can usually at least try."

Kolyat turned away. "Nobody else understood how I've felt about things," he said. "What makes you think you would?"

"Because I haven't had the courtesy of trying yet," said Valentine. He then leaned forward. "All you have to do is allow me to try.?

Kolyat shook his head. "My uncle and aunt certainly never understood. They've never tried to understand how I feel about other things, and they're my own flesh and blood." He then looked up. "You'd be no different."

Valentine quirked an eyebrow up. "Really?" he asked. "Try me, then. Why do you think they don't get you?"

The drell paused, looking back to Valentine. "It's a long story."

"We've got a lot of time," said the pilot. "Talk to me, Kolyat. Why do you feel they don't understand you?"

Kolyat nodded. "My mother was killed by batarians," he said. "I wasn't home when it happened, and neither was my father. I was six, maybe seven when it happened." He looked down, holding his hands together. "My father was at the funeral. He didn't even look at me the whole time. I don't remember how he looked at me, it was raining so hard. But he just seemed so quiet and speechless..." Kolyat sighed, looking down. "After that, he put me in the care of my aunt and uncle." He paused.

"Go on..." asked Valentine.

"I... I just don't know why he did it," said Kolyat. "Did he not love me?" He paused again, leaning forward. "That's something I've been trying to get out of them. They keep telling me he does, but they don't explain anything. Why would he leave me with them if he did love me?" He then leaned forward, his hands waving animatedly in the air. "He couldn't even look at me in the funeral. I don't know if he ever wanted me, and I've asked them about that, but they can't see that. They just assume I'm hitting a phase, or I'm starting to grow up..."

Kolyat's eyes began to water, and he leaned forward. "I just wish he'd be _there_ ," he said. He then hugged his arms around himself. "Especially now. After having nearly died, or been taken prisoner, or taken to a place where I'd never see any of my friends or family again... And now how that might happen anyway even though I'm not in a cell... And after I killed someone the way I did." He shook his head. "He would've taken Kalo and I prisoner if I hadn't done anything, but..." Kolyat leaned down. "Gods, the way his eyes looked when he fell. And who knows?"

He then leaned forward, chuckling bitterly even as tears began to stream down his cheeks. "You know, when I pulled the trigger, I thought by killing a man, I'd find out why those batarians who killed my mother would be driven to killing her the way they did," he continued. "But now that I have, I'm further from a question than before. Gods... What if that man had a son like me? And what would his mother do then? Or what if he had something else... or..."

Kolyat propped his elbow on his knees. "I don't know," he admitted. "But that just makes it so much worse. How could I be just like the ones that killed my mother...? Am I even that bad?" He sniffled. "Dad would know what to tell me, I know he would, but now I'm just confused. I'm not a bad person, am I? I can't be that bad..."

Valentine then stood up, walking to Kolyat. The drell looked up at him, before Valentine knelt by him and placed a hand on the drell's shoulder. He said nothing, swallowing a lump in his throat and nodding to the drell. He looked Kolyat right in his eyes, and for the first time he thought he could see the ring of the drell's iris within those pitch-black eyes.

Kolyat sniffled, before leaning forward and resting his head on Valentine's shoulder. The pilot could only pull him in close, patting his back soothingly and letting Kolyat sob quietly. Not another word was said as the sun slowly sank behind the horizon thereafter. Valentine only held perfectly still, letting Kolyat sob into his shoulder.

"You're not a bad person, kid," Valentine replied. "Don't ever forget that."

Kolyat nodded, sniffling softly.

"I'll try..." he said. "I'll try..."

* * *

Sura walked down the streets, looking around with her hand held over her mouth as she looked at the various empty establishments. She moved on, her hand touching the glass of a nearby shop. It was so eerie to her to see it so empty, but she knew the reasons why.

She looked down nostalgically. She then closed her eyes, sighing softly.

"Thinking?"

Sura frowned, before opening her eyes. There Pravuil stood, the aqueron approaching slowly. Sura then frowned, before crouching slightly.

"What do you want now?" she asked.

He paused, looking up at Sura. "You're still quite antagonistic to me," he said.

"Well no shit," said Sura. "You sold us out, nearly ruined the whole operation, and then you come back and expect us to just forget that?"

Pravuil sighed. "I do not, actually," he said. He sighed, stepping towards Sura. "I have been thinking a lot about my affiliations, actually, and I understand your trepidation. I suppose I'd share it in your place."

"And what made you change our mind?" asked Sura, her brow furrowed.

"I thought about my home," he said. "I have so many questions to be answered about how we have conducted ourselves."

Sura sighed. "And you committed treason to that effect," she said. "Sure, I'll just go up to those few quarians that sympathized with the geth, see how they feel about that."

"Perhaps it was foolish," Pravuil admitted. "But..." He then looked up at Sura. "You are not at all what I thought aliens in your galaxy would be like. It was... strangely eye-opening. And if I am to follow anyone, I must know I am doing it for the right reasons." He then looked down. "It is strange, what I feel..."

Sura's frown lessened a little. "So you feel like you understand us better now."

"And it can be a powerful thing," said Pravuil. "Powerful enough that I will see my decision through. I may regret it later, but I will not know that until later. For whatever it is worth, I've crossed the Rubicon for good. Now all that is left is to see it to the end."

Sura nodded, before turning to the shop window. "I guess that's true," she said. She then paused. "Fine. I'll try to remember that. I just hope you're not double-crossing us here."

"It would serve me no purpose," said Pravuil. "They would already label me a traitor."

"Maybe..." Sura then glanced back to the shop front she stood in front of. "Sorry. I was just reminiscing..."

Pravuil walked forward. "About what?" he asked.

Sura looked up. "My father took us here on vacation sometimes," she said. She then looked up. "I never, ever thought I'd walk these streets again at any point in my life, let alone at this age."

The aqueron looked up in surprise. "These streets are familiar?"

Sura nodded, walking around and pointing to a shop across the street. "That used to be a boutique," she said. "They had all kinds of cute jewelry there. And the scarves were beautiful. I've seen a few quarians on Pilgrimage wearing cowls that had similar designs." She then looked down the street from that shop, pointing at another empty storefront. "That used to be a butcher shop. My father liked them: they had all sorts of rare meats you could not get outside of Rannoch. He went to them for his roast he used to make all the time."

Pravuil turned to the shop Sura stood in front of. "And this?" he asked.

"Used to be a flower shop." Sura smiled. "I remember the last time my father took us to this city. It was the last day of our vacation, and mom was resting at the hotel room. We had gone here for her birthday, you see."

"Going on holiday for a birthday?" Pravuil said. "Why here?"

"She had a special attachment to this place," said Sura. "It was where she and dad met, back when she used to do consolate work all around the galaxy." She smiled, before looking back to the empty shop in front of them. "My father and I had gone out to get a few things; we needed some levo ingredients for dinner that night, and the levo shop was a ways away. On the way back, we stopped by this shop, and they had just put out this small bouquet with a flower I'd never seen before."

"What was it?" asked Pravuil.

"They called it 'scarlet star-dye'," she replied. "It was this dark red flower, but the scarlet got less intense as it radiated out of its petals. The tips of them were white. I'd never seen anything quite like it, and I thought mom would love it. So I turned to dad and I asked him to guy that bouquet for mom. He resisted a little at first, but I told her they were for mom, because scarlet was her favorite color, and her birthday was two days earlier. And then, he relented." She looked up. "I asked the shopkeeper where they got that flower from. He told me they only got shipments of it from the other side of the planet occasionally, but that it always sold out."

She then looked up to a building a short ways away. "My mother loved that flower from the moment she laid eyes on it," she continued. "She told dad and I that it was the most beautiful thing about a beautiful planet. A single red flower like that..."

Pravuil shifted his foot. "This was your last trip?"

Sura turned her gaze to the ground. "The geth rebelled two months later," she replied. She then sighed, looking up at the empty shop. "And now, here I am, and the building looks exactly like it did three hundred years ago. The only thing is, it's empty..." She looked down, and around the city. "It's so strange to see this city without people in it. I thought the geth had destroyed everything. Why would they keep something like this up, right? And yet, here we are..."

The aqueron walked over, standing next to Sura as he held his hands behind his back. "You never truly know about some things," he said.

The asari chuckled, giving him a brief nod. "Yeah," she said. She then looked back at Pravuil, before turning to the city. "I can give you a tour, if you'd like."

Pravuil's brows furrowed. "A tour?" he asked.

"Of this city," said Sura. "I've got a lot of happy memories of this place. I know it'll be completely changed once the quarians return, but I can tell you my take on this city before that happens."

Pravuil paused, and then he nodded. "I would be delighted, Sura," he said. "I confess, now that I am no longer your prisoner it is invigorating to hear tales."

Sura began to walk forward, Pravuil matching her pace as they walked off. "Well... I guess that's fair and all, but I think it's time for you to tell tales too," she said. "I can't be the only one telling their life story."

"That is indeed fair," said Pravuil. He looked up. "Perhaps I can give you one tale of my past for every memory you mention here?"

"Sounds like a plan to me," she said. "And I think you have the first go since I already shared a memory with you."

Pravuil nodded. "Perhaps I can tell you of the first time I came to the Obschesto..."

* * *

Kim laid back on the bed, her gaze remaining on the ceiling as she placed her arms behind her head. She let out a sigh, remaining perfectly still as her eyes scanned the ceiling above her.

She heard a door open in the room, but she paid it no mind: it had come from the direction of the bathroom, and if she knew Wilson, the man had just exited the bathroom. She heard his footsteps approach, and then she turned and saw the human just sitting down.

"Damn, feels so good to finally take a shower back on this side of the wormhole again," said Wilson.

Kim nodded. "You know you can never go home," she pointed out.

"Yeah," said Wilson. "Honestly, I made my peace with that fact when I joined Punargathana. I never even thought I'd see this galaxy again, so I'll take what I can get." He paused, looking out of the window to Rannoch. "I'll probably die before I ever go back to Earth, though."

Kim nodded. "And even if you could go back..."

Wilson shook his head. "I'd be shit out of luck," he said. "I mean, shit, Kim, I took part in _genocide_. I'm not going to forget that."

"And nobody else will, either." Kim looked up. She sighed, looking up. "What will happen during this meeting?"

"Well, they'll likely take me away," said Wilson. "Honestly, they'd be right to. I may be trying to atone now, but I took part in genocide. Nothing I say can excuse that."

"My calculations don't support that," said Kim. "They'll likely keep you close. You're the most knowledgeable one about Cerberus, after all, and they'll make sure you use that information to take those bastards down. And who knows? They'll probably let you go free once you help them take Cerberus down."

"Maybe," said Wilson. "But I've learned to expect the worst by now."

"I think this is one time you can afford to look at the bright side," Kim replied. She finally turned, looking to Wilson. "You'll be fine. My calculations should be right about that."

Wilson sighed, covering his face. "I hope you're right," he said.

He then leaned back, pulling his hands away from his face as he tapped his foot gently on the floor.

* * *

"It just seems so... different."

Sa'lem looked up at Rannoch's night sky as the stars began to appear on the horizon. The darkness of the sky above was only interrupted by the light from the hotel room behind him. Still, the young tolahña looked up in wonder, seeing the many stars twinkle faintly in the sky above.

Jile stepped forward, looking up at the sky as well. "Yeah, fam," he said. "I've never seen anything quite like this before." He leaned against the railing of the balcony, chuckling rather softly. "Funny how this is our first adventure into this galaxy, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Sa'lem replied. He held his hand out in the air of Rannoch. "It feels very different. I don't know what to think of it."

"Being on a planet, you mean," said Jile.

"Yeah," said Sa'lem. "I've lived practically my whole life on the Obschesto. I've never even seen stars before." He then looked up, tapping his fingers gently. "It's so weird. I just don't know what to think of this."

"You get used to it." Jile looked up. "I came from the homeworld, you know. I felt disoriented when I first came to the Obschesto."

"I guess." Sa'lem looked back to where Druvak and Vi'ram both lounged in the room, before he sighed and looked up. "Do you think dad's okay?"

Jile shook his head. "No, Sa'lem," he replied. "Whatever happened with him, it probably isn't pretty."

The young tolahña bowed his head. "I just..." He then shifted, looking to the floor. "It can't be that bad, can it?" He looked up, tapping his finger. "They're taking good care of him. They'd have to. He's a Council man, surely they'd make an exception for him, right?"

Jile shook his head. "They don't make exceptions for them," Jile said. "That's not how it works." He then looked up. "Who knows what's going on now? All we know is that anyone who commits what can be called high treason is never seen again."

Sa'lem sighed, looking down at the ground beneath them. He then shifted, and Jile thought he could see tears from the young tolahña's lower set of eyes. Sa'lem then turned away, resting his chin on his hand as inhaled.

"I'm... I'm never seeing him again, am I?" he asked.

Jile nodded, gently patting Sa'lem's shoulder. "I don't think so, fam," he said gently.

Sa'lem nodded, before closing his eyes. It was only then the tears began to flow freely, and he fell to his knees in front of the railing. He lightly pressed his forehead against the top of the railing, and his light sobs permeated the night air.

"Dammit..." he whispered between sniffles. "The one time he finally stands up for himself..." He sniffled rather loudly.

"Everything he did, he did to protect you, Young Master Sa'lem."

Jile turned, seeing Druvak step onto the balcony. Sa'lem turned, not standing as the ra'ken moved forward, leaning towards Sa'lem gently. "He never told you what happened to your mother, Young Master," said Druvak. "I wished I could tell him to tell you, but... If he had told, you would have faced consequences."

Sa'lem frowned, looking up at Druvak. "Bullshit," he said. "I'm not important to them. I was just a kid."

"You were a council man's child," said Druvak. "Think, Young Master. Would that not be valuable to keep them in line?"

Sa'lem shook his head. "There are more important things than me," he said.

"Not to him." Druvak leaned closer. "After your mother was taken by them, you were what he was most concerned about."

Sa'lem frowned, shaking his head with greater vigor. He tried to speak up, but as he opened his mouth, no words came out. He then leaned further forward, shaking his head as his tears flowed down with greater force.

"You're lying!" Sa'lem cried out, glaring at Druvak with a hatred even Sa'lem himself did not understand. "Stop saying that! He only cared about his own skin!" He then shook his head. "Stop lying to me, dammit!"

"You know I would not lie to you, Young Master," Druvak replied patiently. "It is all he ever-"

"Stop!" Sa'lem defiantly waved his hand before him, the tears still flowing as he sniffled rather loudly. "Stop lying to me Druvak! He only cared about himself and you know it! He only cared... He only..."

And then, he fell to the ground, not bothering to hold back as he loudly sobbed against the railing. He squeezed his eyes shut, gripping the railing and sobbing loudly.

Jile then leaned forward, gently placing his hand on Sa'lem's shoulder. He gently guided the tolahña to his shoulder, and in response Sa'lem held on tight to Jile. Jile only patted Sa'lem's back, nodding comfortingly as he closed his own eyes.

"Ssh," said Jile. "Sssh..."

"Not like this," Sa'lem replied between sniffles. "I never even got to apologize." He pulled himself closer to Jile, almost trying to hide within the crook of the aqueron's shoulder. "I never..."

Druvak could only bow his head as the young tolahña cried into Jile's shoulder. The three of them stayed in that way for a while, letting Sa'lem mourn in relative silence in the night air.

* * *

Jodie stepped out onto the field, Kalo following closely behind. Jodie looked to the stars, standing in the center of the field as she breathed in the air of Rannoch.

"It's so beautiful at night," she said. She then smiled, before looking around. "It's been years since I've seen a night sky like this."

"I have never seen a sky like this." Kalo approached, standing next to Jodie.

The two of them stood, watching in wonder as the flowers swayed in the gentle breeze. Even Aiden clicked in wonder, Jodie taking a step back. She looked behind her, before settling on a rock behind her and leaning against it. Kalo moved similarly, admiring the stars above them.

"It must be so wonderful, to see something like this for the first time," said Jodie.

"I am still processing this, myself," said Kalo. "So many wonderful things, loaded with meaning for my people..." He glanced down to the floor. "It is such a reversal of fortune."

"I don't doubt it for a second," Jodie replied. She turned to the stars above, smiling before turning to Kalo. "Does that include the sensitive thing?"

"Potentially," said the quarian. He then looked around. "You do know our immune system problems, and where they came from, right?"

"Yeah, I think so," Jodie replied. She turned to Kalo, a frown on her face. "They stem from the biology of your homeworld, right?"

"Our world has no insect life," Kalo replied. He looked up. "Thus, our immune systems were weak. But they used to be adaptable, before the sterile air of the Fleet ruined it. But now that we have returned, perhaps our immune systems can adapt again."

"You might not even need the cure?" asked Jodie.

"Potentially," said Kalo. "I still think it would be a good idea to look into it, of course, but if we can gain Rannoch back..." He looked to the ground, shaking his head. "But that is not what I came here to tell you. Or even to show you."

Jodie frowned. "Why?" she asked.

Kalo glanced down at his fingers. "On the Fleet, there is a... ritual we sometimes do." He paused, turning his gaze away from Jodie. "I hesitate to call it a ritual, for it does not have sacred significance. It does, however, carry some amount of personal significance."

"And what is that?" asked Jodie.

"Sometimes, if we trust someone on the Fleet... we share suit environments," said Kalo.

Aiden clicked in confusion. "Share suit environments?" asked Jodie. "What do you mean?"

"Well..." Kalo leaned forward, and it was then that Jodie noticed the way he fidgeted nervously. "The air within our suits. We consider the air within our suits to be special to us. Our body knows it, our immune systems know it, and it is different for every quarian. But sometimes, a quarian will trust someone else enough that they will share the environments."

Jodie blinked, looking to the ground. As she did this, her eyes widened in realization. "So you risk stepping outside of your air."

"Yes," said Kalo. "There is always a risk we can get sick, but... It is incredibly intimate. Some even show their faces."

Jodie blinked. "Even showing your face is intimate?" she asked. She then glanced to the side, chuckling nervously. "When you put it that way, it's almost like you want to show me your face."

Kalo immediately fell silent. He bashfully held his hands behind his back, glancing to the ground beneath. Jodie looked on, hearing Aiden trill uncertainly. She then leaned forward, her jaw dropping.

"No way..." She shook her head. "Kalo, are you sure you-?"

"I trust you, Jodie," said Kalo. He bowed his head. "You have done so much more for me than anyone else ever has, even if not all of it was direct. And you are warm."

"Kalo, I've gotten you in danger," said Jodie. "Hell, you nearly got captured! I can't-"

"And?" Kalo stepped towards Jodie, standing in front of her. "There is always a risk, is there not? Even with removing my mask, there is risk." He paused, looking down. "There is significantly less risk on Rannoch, but there is risk nonetheless. I may be sick for a week, but I find it difficult to care. I trust you."

Jodie paused, glancing to the side. "I..." She bowed her head forward. "I'm not used to this." She sighed, looking to the ground. "I'm sorry, I must sound so callous right now."

"I understand," said Kalo. He then stepped forward. "To be quite honest, the thought of sharing my face with you... it terrifies me, and not just because of my immune system. Even with Rannoch's air, I've taken several precautions. Immunoboosters, antibiotiics... I have much less to gain from it than you. But in some cases..."

"...you have to take a leap of faith." Jodie nodded, before grasping Kalo's hands. She then looked up. "You know you'll be exposing your face to Aiden too, right?"

"Yes," said Kalo. "But I recognize he is an inseparable part of you."

Aiden gurgled. In response, Jodie rolled her eyes, turning to Aiden. "You know what he meant," Jodie replied. She then turned to Kalo. "Well... if you're sure, then..."

Kalo nodded. "I only hope this goes well," he said, bringing a pair of hands to his visor. "If not..."

Jodie nodded. "Aiden will be ready." She then glanced up past Kalo. "Right?"

Aiden trilled low. As Jodie nodded in return, she turned her attention back to Kalo.

The quarian nodded, his fingers shaking slightly. He brought them up to his helmet, exhaling deeply. He fidgeted with the helmet, his fingers shaking gently as he breathed in.

Jodie immediately stepped forward, gently placing her hands on Kalo's. She held them steady, before looking around at the helmet. "Here, let me help you with that," said Jodie. "I think it's..."

Kalo paused, but after a second, he moved his hands so they were atop Jodie's. "Yes, I think it is like..." He gently moved her thumbs, Jodie noticing a clear seam on the metallic surface. "And I believe you press down, and-"

Jodie pressed her thumbs down on the metal. She was met with a hiss of air that cut off Kalo's thoughts. Jodie blinked, and then experimentally pulled slightly at the visor. She blinked in surprise at how quickly it came away, but before she could move too far Kalo held her hands in place. They remained there for a single second, before Kalo gently lowered Jodie's hands.

And then, Jodie looked right into his eyes. She saw black where the whites of his eyes should have been, but she was soon drawn in by the milky white pupils he sported. She was not able to make out what the tone of his skin was, but she assumed it had to be ashen. She noted the slightly crooked shape of Kalo's nose, but otherwise, she stood, looking him intently in the eyes.

Jodie breathed in, chuckling nervously. "I... I was not expecting this," she admitted.

Kalo's eyelids shifted, the flesh quirking questioningly. "I hope it means you are not repelled," said Kalo, his voice sounding very different on the actual air.

But Jodie smiled, shaking her head and moving closer. "No," she said. She shook her head. "To be honest, I didn't know what to expect..."

They both stood there, looking intently in each other's eyes. Kalo then chuckled nervously, before bringing a hand up and running it through Jodie's hair. "You look so different without the hue of the visor there," he said. "It's..."

He paused again, Jodie smiling as she nodded. "You look nice," she admitted.

Kalo blushed, his lips curling into a nervous smile. "As do you," he said.

Jodie nodded, before taking one hand and gripping the quarian's hand. They looked deep into each others' eyes, Aiden not saying anything as they simply stood there in silence. All around them, the breeze rustled the grasses and the stars shone above. But they needed very little else in that singular moment in time.

And then, Jodie's omnitool beeped. Jodie groaned, before transferring Kalo's visor to her other hand and opening the omni-tool. She noticed it was a call from Legion, and she simply sighed before answering it. "What is it, Legion?" she asked.

" _We have confirmed the arrival of the Council at Creator homeworld,_ " Legion replied. " _Alert: the Council is presently in orbit._ "

Jodie sighed. "Of all times," she said bitterly. She then turned to the omnitool. "I guess we'll be sleeping it off first?"

" _Affirmative,_ " Legion replied. " _We have also confirmed that the quarian admirals are en route, as per Creator Kalo'Veera's call._ "

Jodie nodded, letting out a sigh. "Alright," she said. "We'll see what happens tomorrow."

" _We hope to seek an alliance that will benefit all,_ " Legion intoned. " _We will rouse Holmes-Anomaly tomorrow._ "

And with this, the call ended. Jodie sighed, before shrugging to Kalo. "No rest for the wicked, as they say," she said as she handed the visor back to him.

Kalo nodded. "This was all too brief," he said, taking the visor back. He held it in his hands, smiling as he looked at Jodie. "Still... It was good to finally do that. I've never trusted anyone enough."

Jodie nodded, stepping towards Kalo and placing a hand on his shoulder. "I guess that's a good thing." She then shrugged.

Kalo. "Well, I guess we should-"

He was interrupted by Jodie suddenly pulling herself close to him. She hugged the quarian rather gently, Kalo blinking in surprise with his visor still in hand. He paused for a second, taking stock of Jodie's position and how well she seemed to fit like this.

And then, Kalo wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him. He closed his eyes, smiling as Jodie tightened the hug. They remained this way for a few seconds more, Kalo even beginning to affectionately rub Jodie's back. Jodie simply rested her head in the crook of Kalo's shoulder, exhaling softly.

They parted, Jodie grabbing Kalo's wrists and smiling. She then chuckled nervously, brushing some hair out of the way.

"It's... It's been a long while," she admitted. "Well, since I had someone trust me that much. And I'm kind of glad it's you."

Kalo nodded. "Hopefully we will get to do something like that again," he said.

Jodie smiled, tapping her foot against the ground. "I hope so too," she admitted.

Kalo gave Jodie one last smile. He then nodded, before looking back to the city behind them. "I suppose we should not tarry," said Kalo as he brought his visor back to his suit. Another hiss of air sounded as he reattached the visor. "Let us go back."

Jodie nodded. "Yeah... Let's," she said.

With this, the two of them set off back for the city. As they walked, though, they ended up side by side. And as they moved, Kalo gently reached for Jodie's hand, taking it in his as they navigated the plains back to the city.

Jodie replied by squeezing Kalo's hand gently. And even as Aiden gave an annoyed trill, Jodie felt content.


	24. Chapter 24

Admiral Zaal'Koris sat back in his chair, looking through some more files aboard the Qwib Qwib. It had been a rather busy day ever since one of his technicians had reported back with less than ideal news about their engine. It would need some repairs, especially to the air filtration systems. Zaal knew better than anyone what a failed air filtration system could do, but it was the third time the Qwib Qwib's systems had neared failure in the course of a single month.

It was not boding well, and Zaal had the feeling the Qwib Qwib would have to salvage parts from another ship in the Fleet. This was permitted within the Fleet provided he alerted the other admirals, but it was not a process he ever looked forward to dealing with, partly because he was so much of an outcast within the admiralty board. He got along decently well with Shala'Raan, of course, but the other admirals? Han'Gerrel looked at Zaal with outright disdain, and he found himself barely able to get along with Rael'Zorah and Gul'Yenvar. It made any formal proceedings to get resources for the Qwib Qwib rather awkward, and Zaal never liked to do it.

And yet, he knew what the costs were if he did not.

He leaned back in his chair, shaking his head in dismay. _What am I to do now...?_

He then heard a rap on the door to his quarters. Zaal sighed, gently laying the datapad on the desk before standing up. "Enter."

The door opened, and Zaal looked up. He smiled, seeing his second-in-command enter the quarters, one Yira'Lalia. Zaal had grown quite fond of her ever since she had taken up the post of his direct subordinate on the Qwib Qwib, and she had proven herself quite capable. He quite liked her 'never-say-die' attitude, and it helped that she backed him up in disputes with the other ship captains. She had a penchant for always looking on the bright side, and she carried herself with some perk.

So it was with some surprise that Zaal noticed that her shoulders were a little too tense. His smile faded away as Yira exhaled roughly, the lieutenant looking to Zaal'Koris with her omnitool open.

Zaal sighed, shaking his head. "Something's on your mind, Yira?" he asked.

"Well, sir, it's a long story," said Yira. "Do you remember my friend Kalo'Veera?"

"Ah, yes, your close friend on Pilgrimage," said Zaal, holding his hands behind his back. "What about him?"

Yira inhaled. "Well... He messaged me just now," he said. "He tells me that he has had some absolutely wild journeys, but... he's ready to return to the Fleet with his Pilgrimage gift, but that the admirals have to meet him first."

Zaal frowned. "That's an unusual request," he said, crossing his arms. "Tali'Zorah came back with those geth codes, and that warranted a visit from us. What could he provide us that he asks for the same priority?"

"Well, that's where it gets strange..." Yira glanced to the side, almost as if checking to ensure nobody was listening in. She then leaned forward, showing Zaal the reading on her omnitool.

"He sent a location ping with the message," she said. "Just look at where he is."

Zaal frowned, noticing the galactic map displayed on Yira's omni-tool. He saw a red dot on the map, and he nodded as he registered that it was Kalo'Veera's location. However, he immediately looked at where the dot was on the map, before all of his muscles froze.

His jaw dropped, and then he turned to Yira. "Pardon my vernacular, Yira, but how the _hell_ did he get behind the Veil?"

"That's why he wants to meet with the admirals, sir," she said. "He says it's about a matter too sensitive to discuss over a message. All he says is that he is not in any danger from the geth, but that there is a force that could be a far bigger threat to the Fleet."

"But behind the Veil?" asked Zaal. He shook his head. "The others will think this is a trap laid by the geth!"

Yira shook his head. "He tells me the Council is on route."

Once again, Zaal'Koris flinched. "What?" he asked. He shook his head. "This must be a joke."

"I checked the coding of the message," Yira replied. "As far as I know, it's genuine." She sighed, looking to the floor. "I don't know, sir... This seems very serious, and I know Kalo would not do something like this if he were not certain this were important."

"I believe you, Yira, but that is not why I am worried..." He shook his head, before looking out the viewport to the rest of the Fleet. "Tell the Admirals I'm calling an emergency meeting. If your friend is behind the Veil, then there is no telling what lays on the other side..."

* * *

Jodie, Liara, Kalo, and Ashley stood inside the lobby. They were flanked all around by geth, the robotic beings all looking towards the door. They felt a palpable tension in the air as they waited. The group looked around at the mass of geth all around them, and how they all stared at the door almost expectantly. Jodie could not help but tap her foot against the floor, the silence awkward and deafening.

She let out a sigh, gripping her elbow and looking to the ground. _I hope this does not go wrong._

Aiden gurgled comfortingly, to which Jodie looked up. _I hope you're right,_ she thought.

And then, the entity trilled rather loudly. Before Jodie could react, though, she saw a couple of forms appear in the glass of the hotel. She then blinked, leaning forward as the doors opened.

In walked Councillor Anderson, rubbing his temples in dismay. Jodie then saw the asari councilor step in, but she did not see anyone she would recognize as the turian or salarian councilors. Behind Anderson, Jodie could see Udina and Hackett, the two older men looking past Anderson. It was only when Jodie looked back that she saw a turian who bore striking white face paint. The retinue entered, and stood at the doorway.

"We have arrived, councilors," said Legion as it stepped aside. "We believe there are-"

"Liara T'Soni?" The asari councilor immediately stepped forward, looking at the asari.

Anderson then leaned forward, before crossing his arms. "It looks like her, yes."

Liara stepped forward, sighing as she bowed her head. "Councilor Tevos," she replied. "I didn't think you'd come."

"I didn't think you would be here." Tevos stepped forward, before looking to Jodie and Ashley. "And there is the rest of Commander Shepard's company. Hello."

Jodie frowned, stepping forward. "I don't see the whole Council here," she said.

"That's because it's _incredibly_ stupid to ask the entire Council to just head out into Council space in areas of known geth activity!" Udina suddenly burst out from behind Anderson, waving his fist in the air. " _Especially_ the quarian's former homeworld! Did you really think we'd go along with you blindly? The only thing saving you right now is it turned out to be true. I was legitimately afraid we would lose two Councilors for this!"

The turian then turned to Udina, shaking his head. "Enough, Udina," he said. "That's why you brought me along."

Ashley turned to the turian. "I don't think we've met," she said.

"That's because I'm not big on the galactic politics scene," he replied. "Yet." He then stepped up to Jodie. "I am general Adrien Victus of the Hierarchy." He then paused, before holding a talon up to them. "If I'm not mistaken, humans greet each other with handshakes, right?"

"Uh... yes, yes we do." Jodie blinked, before tentatively shaking the talon. "What is a member of the Hierarchy doing here?"

"I was sent here by Councilor Sparatus," said Victus. "From the way phrased it to me, it was a security concern for the Hierarchy as well as all of Council space, so he wished for my input. I offered to go in person to keep them safe, and here I am."

"As if he needed the extra security," Hackett noted as he stroked his goatee.

"You know how turians are, Admiral," Victus replied. "But regardless, this is a concern for the turians."

"As much as it is for the asari and the salarians alike," said Tevos as she stepped up behind Victus. "I'm afraid we don't have any salarian representatives in person: however, we have arranged to telephone in the conference to the dalatrass, as well as the two absent councilors."

To this, Jodie shook her head. "We can't do that," she said. "Even that is too dangerous."

"We can fortify the security on the communications channel," said Legion as it stepped up to them. "Kim-Leader has taught us common exion tricks in hacking. We have developed countermeasures."

"Exions?" Victus turned to the geth. "I have not heard of these."

"It's... part of the reason my lips were sealed," said Anderson. He then turned to Jodie. "You said you'd explain everything when we arrived. And now, here we are."

Jodie nodded, turning to some of the geth that flanked the whole room. "Come with us," she said. "I think it's better if we start by showing you a few of the people we've recruited since Anderson gave us our mission."

"Recruited?" asked Anderson.

Udina frowned, leaning forward as he appraised Jodie. "You're sure they're loyal to you," he said.

"I think so," said Jodie. She then turned to Legion. "They're in that ballroom, right?"

"Affirmative," the geth replied.

"Then to the ballroom we go." Jodie turned, beckoning to the dignitaries behind her. "This way."

* * *

"Are you quite mad, Zaal'Koris?"

Han'Gerrel leaned forward, his hands planted against a railway. Zaal'Koris felt the man glaring holes into his helmet, and he could see the admiral clench his fists. He glanced to the side, seeing Rael'Zorah give a similarly venomous glare. The room seemed to shrink under the auspices of that glare, and it was already pretty small to begin with.

Regardless, Zaal met Han's glare head-on. "I certainly hope not," he said.

"Your hope is in vain." Han'Gerrel began to pace around the room, walking past Gul'Yenvar and Rael'Zorah as he planted his feet right next to Zaal'Koris. "Do you seriously expect us to go with this? This could be a trap from the geth!"

"I'm well aware of that," said Zaal. "My lieutenant analyzed the message three separate times, and found both the message and the ping to be genuine!"

"Like we'd have any reason to believe any lieutenant allied with you," said Han.

"Oh peace, Han'Gerrel." All eyes turned to Shala'Raan. She leaned forward, shaking her head. "Yira'Lalia is a capable lieutenant, and very good at what she does. I would put my faith in her as well."

"Thank you, Shala'Raan," Zaal replied.

"Ha!" Han replied, dismissively waving his hand. "You only say that because you sympathize with the geth!"

"I concur," Rael replied. He then turned to Shala. "Shala, you have to wonder if his crew does not feel the same."

"And does that matter?" asked Shala. "She still analyzed the message to ensure it was genuine. Do you truly think she would have left it well enough alone otherwise?"

Gul'Yenvar shook his head. "You must be careful about these things," he said.

"You don't understand," said Zaal. "If this quarian is really behind the Veil, then there are only a few possibilities to tell us exactly why he is there. Either he is doing something foolish against the geth, or he is there with them."

"In which case, he would be guilty of treason!" said Han.

"That isn't what I meant," said Zaal. He then stepped forward. "Do you not think it's at least worth investigating why he's there?"

"It could be a trap from the geth," Han repeated.

"It could also be the biggest breakthrough for our people," said Zaal. "Can you imagine the implications of this? Nothing would be the same after something like that. We need to know why he's there, what the circumstances are... Even if it is a trap from the geth. The risks may well be worth the reward."

"I think it is at least worth investigating," said Shala. "I recommend we send a troop of quarian marines with whoever goes there just in case it is a trap from the geth. But if it is not, and this quarian is there, then we must investigate it. Particularly if the Council's presence proves to be true."

"I would disapprove that!" said Han. "It is a silly endeavor, nothing more! And it could be a trap for the geth!"

"Well, there is only one way to determine that," said Shala. She then turned to Zaal. "You would be open to allowing the marines with you."

"It is a necessary compromise," said Zaal. "Additionally, I feel only two of us should go, also just in case. If it turns out to be true, we can contact the Fleet and bring in your input. Not in person, but from this distance it should be enough regardless."

Rael and Gul looked to the floor pensively. As soon as a few seconds of silence passed, Han'Gerrel turned, his eyes narrowing.

"You mean to tell me you might actually consider it?" he asked.

"Say what you will about the suspicious nature of what we've got here, Zaal'Koris is willing to shoulder the burden," said Gul.

"If nothing else, I can believe that. He also brings up a rather compelling point about the quarian on the homeworld," Rael added. He then tapped his hand, looking to Zaal'Koris. "Would you be willing to go there yourself?"

"Naturally," said Zaal.

Rael frowned, sighing. "This is a dangerous game you play, Zaal'Koris," he replied.

"I know," he said. "And I am aware of the risks. But I am willing to see them through, if it means the Fleet will benefit from them."

Rael sighed. "Then perhaps this may not be such a bad idea after all."

Han'Gerrel balked. "You can't seriously mean to support this insanity?" he asked.

"I would not, in any other circumstance," said Rael. "But think. This is the homeworld!" He then turned to Zaal'Koris. "We will deliberate the exact logistics in ten minutes. For now, we will need a break. I hope our faith in you is not misplaced, Zaal."

"I hope so too..." said Zaal.

* * *

Kim sat at the table, puzzling over a piece of news she found. She sat at a table, her legs crossed as her handcom glowed in the dimmer light of the lounge.

"Hm... Apparently, Shepard did die."

Druvak leaned over her shoulder, inspecting the news article in question. Wilson did so as well, stepping up from the table and walking to Kim. "Well what do you know?" he said. "That intelligence leak _wasn't_ there to throw us off bigger pieces of intelligence."

"Indeed," said Druvak. "But what I wish to know, is why they did not tell us as much."

"Was Ru'val aware?" asked Kim.

"Yes," Druvak replied. "But even if he were, he would not tell me. Information like that would have gotten him dragged away long before he could aid our escape."

Kim nodded. "I guess that's true." She then shook her head. "I wonder why they're casting it as vanishing, though..."

Sa'lem sighed. "Well, it's probably just propaganda or something," he said. He chuckled. "God, I hope there's nobody that looked like him! That'd be sad if they replaced him with any schmuck that could hold a gun."

Pravuil shook his head from where he sat with his legs crossed across the room. "I doubt it." He then turned to Vi'ram and Jile, who were both close by. "And anyway, it changes little. We must-"

But before he could finish, the door opened. All eyes went to the door, and they saw Jodie standing there in the doorway.

"Well, here they are," said Jodie as she stepped aside. "I think you'll see what the issue is immediately."

And then, they all rose as a bunch of dignitaries entered the room. Sa'lem was the first to lean forward, seeing the three older humans, the asari, and the turian as they stepped in. Ashley, Liara, and Kalo all entered the room, with Legion rounding the group out as they all stepped in. And as soon as the door closed behind them, most eyes in the room turned to the denizens of the other galaxy.

All stood still, and it was then when Kim began paying attention. Her synthetic eyes scanned the group just as the two older men's eyes widened. She could tell from a quick scan of the turian's vital signs that he was also very shocked by what he saw, and when she turned to the asari, she saw the way her hand came to her breast. Kim noted the thickness of the silence in the air, and also noted the way Jodie had stepped back to let the dignitaries time to take them all in as their eyes all scanned the various people in the room.

With this, Kim stepped forward, her glowing eyes turning to everyone around them. "I was expecting there to be a salarian among your group."

The grey-haired human began to stroke a goatee. "You look very similar to a human..." he said. "Except for your eyes."

"That's a long story," said Kim. She then turned to the asari. "As I was saying, there's no salarian with you."

The asari gulped, before looking to the floor. "He is not present."

Kim frowned, glancing to Jodie. "This isn't the whole Council," she said.

"N-no..." The human in the white shirt seemed quiet from shock. He then turned quietly to Jodie, his brows pulled back. "What is the meaning of this?"

Jodie bowed her head. "Now you know why I asked for the whole Council," she said.

The white-shirted human then turned to his counterpart, clad in a blue and red shirt. "Why didn't you tell me this would incur that?"

"I never told him," said Jodie.

"If I had known this incurred a first contact situation, I would have told you that," said the blue-shirted human. He then turned to Jodie. "Did you know when you set out on the mission?"

"No," said Jodie. "We only found out it involved a first contact after we'd already technically made it."

Kim shrugged. "Technically, this can't even involve the formal first contact situation," she began. "I've read up on your procedures for a typical First Contact situation. You send out crews there, no?"

Tevos nodded. "We do, yes," she said. "But this is..."

"This bypasses the usual regulations!" said the white-shirted human. He shook his head, looking to the turian. "It seems you were right, General. This _is_ serious."

The turian nodded. "I thought this would be important just based on Sparatus telling me this was serious." He then looked to Kim, frowning. "And this is a very bizarre first contact situation. I can't believe we're about to break regulation for how first contact is established."

Kim shook her head. "I hate to tell you this, but that regulation was already broken thirty years ago," she replied. "I don't blame you for it, though, because technically you were not the ones to make first contact."

The turian frowned. "Really?" he asked.

Kim nodded, turning to Hackett and Anderson. "It was humanity that made first contact."

The asari turned to the other three humans right by the door. "You contacted multiple species without telling us?" she asked, her arms tensing slowly?

Before any of the humans could say anything, though, Druvak stood up, splaying his arms out. "Do not blame them, Madam Councilor," he said, stepping towards them. "It is a complicated story, and we are convinced that if the Alliance had made first contact, they would have informed you, and we would not be here today."

"Then who did?" asked the turian as he crossed his arms.

Kim shifted her feet. "I believe your galaxy knows them as 'Cerberus'," she said.

The white-haired human reared his head back in shock. "Cerberus?" he asked. " _They_ made first contact?"

"Yes," said Kim. She then looked at them all. "It's a very long story about both how it unfolded, and why we never subsequently reached out to you properly."

The turian nodded, his mandibles splaying out. "Interesting." He then looked out. "Well, before we get to that, I'm wondering: where are you from, that nobody else has bumped into you since that time?"

"We come from the Armstrong Nebula." Pravuil slowly walked over to the dignitaries. "There is a wormhole there, and it leads to another galaxy."

The asari reeled back in shock. "Another galaxy?" she asked.

"Yeah." Sa'lem approached them next. "And from there, we have our various homeworlds, and our own government."

Kim then gestured to a huge table in the center of the abandoned lounge. "Come on, sit a while. It's going to take a _long_ time to explain _everything_."

The asari nodded. "Yes," she said. "I have no doubt it will."

* * *

Zaal'Koris stood in the cockpit of the shuttle. He felt his heart race, looking at the copy of Kalo'Veera's message that Yira had given him just before they had set off. His eyes rolled across the letters, seeing every letter of every word as some kind of declaration. He knew it was not so, but considering where he stood at that time.

The admiral sighed, before glancing outside the shuttle they occupied. Outside, Zaal saw the last relay needed to reach the Veil in full view. And as he drew closer, the admiral could only swallow a large lump in his throat. He had a great doubt: what if Han and Gul had been right? What if this was a trap? He knew Yira would not let such a thing happen, but even then he could not help but doubt.

He heard footsteps approach the cockpit. "I must admit, Admiral, I am rather nervous."

Zaal turned, seeing Shala'Raan walk up to the cockpit. The pilot briefly turned his head, giving a brief salute before turning back to piloting the ship. Zaal then nodded as Shala came up to the cockpit's view, both of them laying their eyes on the relay ahead of them.

"To be quite frank, Shala'Raan, I'm nervous myself," said Zaal. "And not simply because of what this could mean for our people. There is so much risk..." He sighed. "I know my convictions, and I know we must go, but that does not prevent my nerves from acting up."

Shala nodded. "It is difficult, to be on the precipice of great events," she said. "But I have a feeling we'll come out stronger as a people for this."

Zaal sighed. "I suppose that is why you came along?"

"I actually went to assuage Rael," Shala replied. She turned, looking right at Zaal'Koris. "I know he did not make this decision lightly, particularly with his opinion on the geth." She looked up. "But if this is at all what you say it is..."

"Yes." Zaal's shoulders loosened up, and he stepped towards the cockpit. "We'll have to hope." He then turned to the pilot. "Are the marines ready?"

"Yes, sir," said the pilot. "They've been given the briefing. If they fire first, we fire and get the hell out of dodge."

Zaal nodded, looking up as the ship drew closer to the mass relay. "Then let us get started, yes?"

The pilot turned outside, tapping his fingers against the navigation panel. "Approaching the mass relay," he said. "Here it is, folks: the moment of truth..."

With this, the ship approached the relay. Before long, they had passed it, the lightning arcing and hitting the small frigate that the admirals had allowed them to take. It was outfitted with good enough guns to at least get the geth off of them if need be, and it also had functional shielding. Both of those things would be invaluable, Zaal knew. He only hoped he would never use them.

And then, the ship leapt forward. The mass relay travel seemed to stretch out longer as Zaal felt his nerves build a little. The blue stretched on, and Zaal could only exhale as it stretched on.

When they broke the mass relay travel, the view before them was quite strange. There, they saw the silver orb that was their homeworld in the distance. Surrounding it were a bunch of smaller dots, though Zaal'Koris could not see them clearly enough to discern just what they were. As they watched, however, they saw some of the dots approach.

"Geth vessels," said Shala. She then looked to the pilot. "Scan the area."

"Already did, ma'am," the pilot replied. "We are being approached by geth vessels, but they're not the only ships in the area."

"They're not?" Zaal turned to the pilot. "What are the others?"

"There is one vessel there with a turian ship registry," he replied. "And then there's another vessel with a hanar registry as well, and then there's one ship with..." He then leaned forward, looking at the readout. "One of the ships has a registry I don't recognize."

"Strange," said Shala. "Spoils of war?"

"I think we should ask them about that, first," said Zaal. "Are these ships armed?"

"No," said the pilot. "Scanned them for weapons, nothing came up. It looks like we're being greeted with geth shuttles."

It was then that Zaal and Shala turned to look out the window. A pair of shuttles came to a halt right in front of the vessel, and before long they saw an indication appear on the pilot's panel. The pilot then leaned forward, frowning a bit before reaching forward and tapping a button lightly.

"Yes, hello?" asked the pilot.

" _Greetings,_ " said the geth. " _We have scanned your ship, and detected a quarian registry. Query: who is on board?_ "

The pilot nodded, before gesturing for Zaal to lean in. The admiral nodded, taking the hint and leaning close.

"I am Admiral Zaal'Koris vas Qwib Qwib of the Migrant Fleet," he said. "I am here in response to a message sent by one Kalo'Veera nar Idenna. Do you copy that?"

The communication line immediately perked up. " _Affirmative,_ " said the geth on the other end of the line. " _Alert: Creator Kalo'Veera is safe on Creator homeworld. Creator Kalo'Veera is also on Creator homeworld of his own free will._ "

The pilot, Shala, and Zaal all exchanged confused glances as they looked around. "Creator?" he asked.

" _Creator: label given to what the galaxy calls 'quarians'_ ," the geth replied. " _Alert: we have been instructed to lead you to Creator Kalo'Veera's current location upon your arrival_."

Shala stood at attention. "You were?" she asked. "Then lead us to him."

" _Affirmative,_ " said the geth.

With this, the geth shuttles turned, the two of them heading straight for Rannoch. The pilot nodded, before bringing his hands forward on the panels. The ship followed soon after, the pilot letting out a deep breath.

"Well, it hasn't gone wrong yet, sir," said the pilot. "Let's hope it stays that way."

Zaal nodded. "I do as well."

* * *

Councillor Tevos leaned back, her eyes widening considerably as she leaned back. She looked right at Jodie, who sat in front of her. The small human blinked away, noticing the way Tevos' hand shifted as the asari's eyes shifted back to their original color from the pitch black seen in the meld.

"Goddess..." said Tevos. "This is..."

"I know." Jodie nodded grimly. "It's all very hard to believe."

Tevos nodded. "Not only that," she said. "This is all very shocking."

General Victus nodded, turning to Anderson. "When Sparatus told me you said to expect a bombshell, I wasn't expecting a spirits-damned torpedo volley!" he said.

"I don't think anyone would have," said Liara. She glanced at the corner, before leaning forward. "Now you see why Jodie wanted the entire Council here, yes?"

"We do, but unfortunately it would have posed a security risk," said Udina. He then looked to Kim. "One thing I don't understand: how do you have glowing eyes? Are those implants?"

Kim leaned back, crossing her legs and raising an eyebrow at Udina. "No," she said. "Remember, the articians created an AI race modelled in their image."

Victus leaned forward, appraising Kim's glowing eyes. "So you're one of them."

Kim grinned, nodding. "Indeed I am," she said. "You wouldn't have thought of it before, I figure."

Anderson sighed, Udina mirroring his actions. "More AIs?" he asked. "I was certain the geth would be the only other AI we encountered."

"If only you were so lucky," said Kim. She leaned forward. "To be honest, the guys upstairs claim your views on AIs are part of the reason they decided not to pursue diplomacy after what Cerberus did to them. Some of the anti-Council propaganda paints you as being unrealistically suspicious of AIs."

"Well, we certainly have our suspicions, but whenever we have developed an AI, it has gone rogue," said Hackett. "We have reports of a rogue AI on an Alliance base on the moon. I can forward those to you, if you want."

"Certainly, but that's not the point," Kim replied. "The point is they actually pin what the geth call the "Morning War" on _you_. And I don't mean that your anti-AI attitudes freaked them out: they put it like you actually sided with the quarians at first to exterminate the geth."

All of the dignitaries frowned, looking at each other. All eyes then turned to Legion, the geth's headflaps moving.

"Error," the geth stated. "Information is not compatible with records of the timeline of the Morning War."

"I think we would've been far kinder to the quarians if that had been the case," Victus commented.

Anderson frowned. "Nobody thought it was odd how we sided with them and then treated them like they didn't exist?"

"If they did, they're too angry at this galaxy to care," Kim replied. "And that really defines what they're after: they're angry, and they want vengeance."

"Considering what your peoples went through, I don't blame them," said Victus. He then turned to Hackett. "Looks like Cerberus needs to be made a priority."

Hackett nodded. "That was my feeling exactly," the admiral replied. He then rubbed his chin. "We'll need help, of course. We can't do this alone, as even our best spies may not be enough."

"We can discuss that over the call with the Council," said Tevos. "If I know Valern, he would ask the Dalatrass to give you STG support at once."

"So you'd consider making Cerberus a priority?" Pravuil leaned forward.

"We can't let attempted genocide go unanswered," Anderson replied.

"Good." Pravuil nodded, looking to Jodie. "Seems my faith in your cause has been well-placed thus far." He then turned back to the dignitaries. "So when do you plan on bringing the others in to the conversation?"

"As soon as we knew what the information was," said Tevos. She then turned to the geth. "Is that quite all right with you?"

"Alert: we must wait a little longer," said Legion.

Victus frowned, turning to the geth. "A little longer?" he asked. "What for?"

And then, the door opened. All eyes immediately turned to the doorway to the room, as a male and a female quarian stepped into the room. However, Kalo stood at attention, the quarian rushing straight for the front of the room and giving the two quarians a salute.

"Admiral Zaal'Koris, you received my message!" said Kalo.

Zaal'Koris blinked, looking at the young Quarian. "Kalo'Veera nar Idenna?"

"Indeed," Kalo replied. "I was not certain you would heed my message?"

"Well, cooler heads prevailed," Zaal'Koris replied. He then looked past Kalo, frowning. "Wait... Who are those people?"

Legion's head flaps moved. It then turned to Tevos, before its headflaps moved. "Tevos-Councillor, we believe the quarian people should be brought in on this as well."

Tevos blinked, before turning and standing. Victus did similarly, and before long everyone else in the room had stood up.

The female quarian blinked in surprised. "What the hell is going on here?" she asked, her voice raised. Jodie could tell even from hearing it for the first time she did not frequently raise it.

Kalo nodded. "It is a very long tale," he continued. He then turned to Jodie. "I apologize that we have to tell it all again."

Kim shook her head. "Of course," she said. She then sat back down, gesturing to the table. "I'm just telling you, we'll have to tell the remaining Councillors again."

"That wouldn't be a problem if we could add them to this conversation now," Anderson stated. He then looked to the admirals. "But first, introductions are in order." Anderson stepped towards them, extending his hand to Zaal'Koris. "I am Councillor David Anderson, former Alliance marine."

"And..." Zaal paused, before shaking his head. "And I am Admiral Zaal'Koris vas Qwib Qwib," he said. "I am joined by Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay, and we are both representatives of the Migrant Fleet." He then turned to the others. "If I had known the Council would be here, I would have asked Rael'Zorah to come as well."

"Well, we'll have to make do with what we have," said Tevos as she stood up. "But that is not important now. For now, let's introduce ourselves, and bring everyone we must into this conversation." She then nodded to Victus. "Message Sparatus and tell him that he and Valern should be prepared for a call soon."

Victus nodded. "Yes, ma'am," he said, opening his omnitool. "Hopefully the introductions will be done by the time they're ready..."

* * *

Zaal'Koris leaned back, as did Shala'Raan. Shala placed a hand on her chest, leaning towards Jodie.

"Impossible!" said Shala.

"Not so much as you might think," Tevos replied.

She then glanced to the holograms where Councilor Sparatus, Councilor Valern, and the salarian dalatrass all were projected in the center of the table. Almost everyone in the room was seated at the large round table: only Pravuil, Druvak, and Ashley remained standing. Kalo was seated next to Jodie, with Kim sitting on the other side. The rest of the dignitaries sat around, and interspersed between them were Sa'lem, who sat decently close to Victus. Druvak stood behind the young tolahña, while Pravuil and Ashley both preferred to stand close to Kalo and Jodie.

Tevos took a breath in. "I melded with Jodie prior to the admirals' arrival. Everything she said she saw was there."

" _I see..._ " Valern looked to his left, almost peering at Anderson. " _I will assume, Councillor Anderson, that you knew nothing about this before Jodie told you about this war crime against Balak_ _._ "

"If I did, I would have told you earlier," said Anderson. "But as it is, I knew you would need evidence." He bowed his head. "I would like to apologize for–"

" _Oh, save the apology,_ " said Sparatus, dismissively waving his hand. " _As far as I'm concerned, you don't need to apologize for being deceived._ " He shook his head. " _Though I am wondering just how deep the corruption goes within the Alliance._ "

"And that is the problem," said Hackett as he looked to the rest of the table. "I was suggesting we start by going through the Alliance, seeing how many more of these moles are there. If they were willing to go to such an extent to keep such a secret as that..."

"Well, I doubt it will matter much soon," said Zaal. "If they are right that they escaped that galaxy, and they now know some of their technology is being held hostage on Rannoch..." He then looked out to where he remembered seeing the vast fleets outside of the shuttle. "Especially if we have a battleship of theirs."

"The guys upstairs definitely won't like that you've got their hands on their war tech," said Kim. All eyes turned to her, and she blinked, lightly tapping her fingers. "One thing I will tell you is that they'll likely order a purge of all the offices that allowed this to happen."

" _A purge?_ " the dalatrass asked. " _What do you mean?_ "

Kim swallowed. "That could mean any number of things," she said. She then looked up. "Not even I knew what it entailed when I still had clearance. All I know, is that soon, those people will disappear, and they will _never_ be heard from again."

"It is what happened to Madam La'vel K'lek." All eyes turned to Druvak, the ra'ken leaning forward as he bowed his head. "She was Master Ru'val's wife."

"And my mom." Sa'lem sighed, shaking his head, before looking down at the floor. "And now dad's going to the same place." He kept his gaze trained on the floor.

Tevos looked over, noting how his eyes shone sadly. She then slowly scooted over, before looking to Sa'lem. "Your father was involved?" she asked.

"He's the only reason any of us are here right now," Kim replied. "His father was a Councilman on the Parliament, you see."

" _Hm..._ " Valern glanced down. " _Sounds like there is a great deal of discontent over there._ "

"There is, yes," Kim replied. "But one thing they are good at, is harnessing anger. Even in their discontent, this galaxy is united by rage at what Cerberus did, and the guys upstairs know how to use that to their advantage. But if we found just the right truth to break it..."

" _Like ending Cerberus,_ " said the Dalatrass. She then turned to Hackett, the salarian lifting a finger. " _I assume the STG would be helpful to the task._ "

Hackett cracked a smile, the admiral leaning forward. "Ma'am, you read my mind," he said. "How many teams can you spare?"

" _I can spare a few,_ " said the Dalatrass. " _We can work out the details on our own._ " She then looked around. " _I don't suppose there is any other way the salarians can help._ "

"Actually, there is." Kalo then stood up, looking to the dalatrass.

Zaal started, standing up as Kalo looked to the dalatrass. "Kalo, what are you doing?" he asked.

Kalo turned his head to Zaal. "Something important, sir." Kalo then turned back to the Dalatrass, bowing his head. "I apologize, I'm not certain if you will accept the request of a quarian, but... there is something I would like to experiment on, and I am not certain the Fleet has the resources or the secrecy required to test it."

Zaal balked. "Excuse me?" he said. "I'll have you know that we have–!"

Shala stood up, promptly patting Zaal on the shoulder. This promptly silenced him, before the older admiral turned to Kalo. "What is the meaning of this, Kalo'Veera?"

Kalo bowed his head, before looking to his scarf. "When we were there in the other galaxy, I was taken prisoner," Kalo mentioned. "They wanted me to deliver something to the Fleet, make it my official Pilgrimage gift." He then pulled the grey pouch with the cure, gently placing it on the table. "I would like very much to turn in this item, but–"

"And what, exactly, is it?" asked Zaal.

Kalo sighed. "The way they described it, it was a cure for the quarians' immune systems."

And Zaal's frown only furthered. "What?" he asked indignantly. "A cure?"

Shala blinked, leaning forward. "You never mentioned anything about that in your message," she said. "And now you wish to give it to the salarians?"

"Are you insane, Kalo?" asked Zaal.

"I have my reasons, admirals," Kalo replied.

"But this could change our people's futures!" Zaal'Koris replied. "If this cure is developed, we can settle anywhere in the galaxy! We can avoid war with the geth with this, and you intend to just give it away!"

Kalo shook his head. "That is not what I–!"

"That could be treasonous!" said Zaal. He then pointed at Kalo. "You withheld that information, and intend to give it to–!"

"Quiet!" Victus' voice carried across the table, effectively silencing Zaal. The two admirals turned to the turian general, who had stood up. He glanced over at the quarians, and Jodie could see that even though his voice carried across the table, he bore no expression of malice or exasperation. He simply laid his talons on the table, looking to Zaal.

"He said he has his reasons, Admiral Zaal'Koris," said Victus. He then turned to Kalo. "I think it'd be helpful for him to give those reasons before we accuse him of treason."

Zaal growled, before sitting back down. "Very well," he said. "List your reasons, pilgrim."

Kalo nodded to Victus. "Thank you." He then turned to Zaal and Shala. "Admirals, I am sure you know of Tali'Zorah's relation to Commander Shepard."

Shala frowned, looking to the grey pouch. "We do," said Shala. "Why is that important?"

"When the scientist spoke to me about this cure, he mentioned that Shepard administered this cure to Tali," Kalo replied.

Zaal and Shala both started. "W... what?" asked Shala. "Tali...?"

"She knows about this cure," said Kalo. "When I was approached in captivity, I was told to offer it to you under their terms. They told me the cure would be given to you, in exchange for your allegiance to them."

"Tali knew about it the whole time?" Zaal asked. "Then why did she not come with the cure?"

"I asked them the same thing," said Kalo. "Alas, I did not get an answer. But nevertheless, she was administered this cure, and she can walk without a mask from what I understand." He then shifted his weight on his feet. "Either way, she knows."

"I don't know..." Shala looked up to Kalo. "Are you certain Tali knows? There must be some mistake."

"The man who spoke to me told me as much," said Kalo. "He even explained that she was given this cure herself."

"And she has not told us this..." Zaal looked to Shala, his eyes wide in surprise. "What will Rael'Zorah say to such accusations?"

"I do not know," said Shala. She then turned to Kalo. "Either way, this does not answer why you wish to turn in this cure to the salarian dalatrass."

"Because I feel it must be tested, and if Tali'Zorah knows about this cure, it would be very dangerous to research it on the Fleet," said Kalo. He then turned to the dalatrass' hologram. "Everything with how this was approached to me was suspicious. I told them I would deliver it on the condition that they were transparent with the Fleet. They could not agree to those terms: thus, I doubt their motives." He then patted the pouch lightly, glancing at Zaal before turning his attention back to the dalatrass. "Before I submit this cure as a Pilgrimage gift for my people, I would like very much to study its technology. I have the awful feeling that there is something sinister about this cure that this galaxy would not tell me, and I want to study it in a controlled environment first."

Udina leaned forward, looking at Kalo. "That's a bold request of a common citizen," he said.

"And particularly one of the Fleet," said Shala. "Why is it dangerous for Tali'Zorah to know you know about the cure?"

"When I spoke to the man who told me about this, he told me Tali'Zorah had been tasked with a mission for them," said Kalo.

Shala and Zaal both leaned back. "A mission for _them_?" Zaal asked.

Shala looked down, before standing up. "Are you certain of this?" asked Shala. "There is no way Tali'Zorah would do such a thing!"

"There is now," said Kalo. "I would not level such an accusation against an admiral's child if I did not think there was some truth to it."

"Tali's changed since she's known Shepard," said Jodie. All eyes turned to her as she glanced to the side. "I watched it all happen. Tali and Shepard... they got very close."

"No..." Shala shook her head. "I won't believe it!"

"If it helps... From what Kalo told me about what he heard as a prisoner, I don't think she is consciously trying to betray the Fleet," said Jodie softly. She sighed, closing her eyes. "I don't want to believe it either, but I know what I saw on the Normandy. I know Tali would go to the ends of the galaxy for Shepard, and even more if she knew what Cerberus did. And if you combine that with a cure that would forever help the quarian people, and if she only knew the version of his galaxy that he told her..." She then looked down. "I think she believes she's doing what's best for the Fleet. I just don't think she knows the whole truth."

"Then can she be convinced otherwise?" asked Shala.

"That's my hope," said Jodie. "If I ever see her again, you better believe I'm going to try to get her to see reason."

"Then..." Shala looked down. "Is there any physical proof?"

"I have files that prove the connection," said Kim.

Shala nodded. "I have much to think about. And much difficult news to tell Rael." She then sat down, looking at the floor in dismay. "I await those files in dread..."

Kalo regarded Shala for a few seconds. He sighed, before turning to the dalatrass. "You understand my position, I hope?"

The dalatrass leaned forward. " _I don't know if I do,_ " she said. " _I'll already have STG teams helping Hackett, I don't know why I should spare them for some tests you are curious about._ "

"This is the future of the quarian people," Kalo replied. "I do not believe you quite understand the gravity of this cure."

" _That is what worries me,_ " said the dalatrass. " _What would we expect then?_ "

"We'd simply settle on a homeworld," said Zaal. "With this cure, any one would do. And from there, we could rebuild."

" _But I hardly see how you need–_ "

" _I_ _t doesn't have to be STG,_ " said Councillor Valern. All eyes turned to the salarian councilor as he stepped forward. " _I have an old friend who is former STG. The STG itself may not be able to aid you, but I know he will._ "

The dalatrass turned to Valern's hologram. " _You mean you would help the quarians?_ " she asked.

" _Dangerous game you're playing there, Valern,_ " Sparatus added.

" _As far as I see it, this galaxy may need to be united against this parallel galaxy,_ " Valern replied. " _And that includes the quarian people. You forget, they hold the largest fleet in the galaxy. They would be an asset to the parallel galaxy, and they will be an asset to us. Additionally, they would be a help against the exions._ " He then glanced to Kim. " _No offense, ma'am._ "

"None taken," said Kim. "It's true, anyway.

" _Good,_ " said Valern. He then looked to Kalo. " _I can't provide much in the way of manpower, but I know my friend has carved out quite the reputation for himself. Get him on, tell him to bring his friends, and I can provide a facility._ "

"You would..." Kalo nodded. "Who do I look for?"

" _Dr. Mordin Solus,_ " said Valern. " _He has opened up a medical clinic on Omega. You can find him there if you ask anyone._ " He then glanced to the side. " _Oh, and don't mind him when you first meet him. He can talk a mile a minute, even for some salarians I know._ "

Kalo leaned forward, bowing his head. "Thank you, Councillor," he said. He looked to Zaal. "I promise you, admirals: as soon as I learn more about how this cure works and what it entails, I will return to the Fleet with the cure. Until then, I must ask that you keep this cure quiet."

Sa'lem frowned. "Why the silence?" he asked.

Jodie glanced to the side. "In fact, what are we going to do until Cerberus is brought to justice?"

"Well, we're in a difficult position there, it seems," said Hackett. "I don't know how Dalatrass Linron or General Victus feel about this, but I get the feeling we may have to treat this as a matter of espionage until Cerberus is brought down."

Kim frowned, her hands tightening into fists. "Until Cerberus is brought down?" she asked. She stood up. "If this galaxy wants to undo you–and trust me, I think it does–, then why keep it a secret?"

"Because that would make Cerberus' life easier." Anderson stood up in turn, looking at Kim. "If we came out and told people why we are hunting Cerberus, that would just cause Cerberus to grow more paranoid, and it would be more difficult to take them down. Additionally, any intelligence we could get now would be rendered obsolete, and we would have nowhere to start." He then put his hands behind his back. "We know what Cerberus has done: the question now is 'how do we take them down without them knowing we do'?"

" _You also forget just how awkward a position your prince has put humanity in,_ " said Sparatus. " _It wouldn't be so bad if he hadn't gotten far impersonating a human, but he is the reason humanity has a Council seat, not to mention he's the first "human" Spectre_." At "human", the turian raised his hands, giving an airquotes sign with two of his talons before lowering them back down. " _We know the truth and can see that humanity is not at fault for their deception, but much of the rest of the galaxy won't feel the same way._

"If we were to reveal that now, we'd be stuck with a public relations nightmare that'd get in the way of doing what we need to do here," Tevos continued. "Petitions to ban humanity from the Council, emboldening of anti-human groups all across the galaxy, distrust of humanity that would lead to a breakdown in order..."

"It would be the political shitstorm to end all political shitstorms," Udina commented. "So we've got to treat how we reveal this delicately."

Kim shook her head. "It's all about politics," she said. She then slumped down, her eyes dimming for a second before lighting back up.

"We understand your trepidation," said Anderson. "We know that openness is the best policy, and I promise you we'll have that as soon as we figure out how to approach this situation. But until we figure that out, we'll need to keep this under wraps. As soon as we know how to reveal it, we will. I promise you we will."

Kim nodded grimly. "I hope it's not too late," she said. "I don't know their plans, but they are an angry galaxy, and I doubt they will wait for you."

"They won't," said Victus. "But that's why we move first." He turned to Hackett. "I assume you will work on putting moles into Cerberus?"

"I have a few agents in mind," said Hackett, rubbing his chin. "But that can be worked out later. For now, we've got other matters that are more pressing."

"Like what?" asked Jodie.

"I think there are other people who might want to know exactly what is going on here," Hackett replied. "If we need a united galaxy to face them as your friend Kim says, we've got much more than us we need to talk about."

"All of us?" asked Zaal.

Kim nodded. "I don't see how it could hurt," she said. "At any rate, everyone back home is united in how much they don't like this galaxy. The Great Purge affected everyone, and even if it hadn't been for that this galaxy has been united for many, many years prior to that."

Shala looked over to the geth. "But that would mean we'd have to work with the geth," said Shala.

Zaal frowned, turning to his fellow admiral. "That may not be such a problem," he said. He then looked to Legion. "After all, we are here."

"Affirmative," Legion replied. "Addendum: we have told Holmes-Anomaly that we are open to creating a geth-organic Alliance to preserve the geth."

"And what would you do after?" asked Shala.

"Leave," the geth replied.

" _Like hell you will!_ " Sparatus replied. " _We left the geth alone for three hundred years, and they only recently attacked with the Reapers._ "

"Those were not true geth," Legion replied.

" _Oh, forget that whole business,_ " said Sparatus. " _They had to break away from something, didn't they?_ "

Legion paused, its headflaps moving slowly. It then looked down, the headflaps turning in towards the flashlight head as Legion tilted its head forward.

"Affirmative," it said.

"Well, Councillor, you forget that with the exions, we could use an advantage," said Victus. He then turned to Kim. "We already have what you've mentioned, but I'd think having the geth would be a good idea."

"General?" asked Anderson. "I was surprised you would be alright with that."

"An advantage is an advantage," said Victus. "And if we can use it, it'll be for the best."

"And you're not concerned they could turn?" asked Shala'Raan.

"Perhaps if we treated them like what they are, they might not," said Zaal.

And here Victus frowned. "You mean you see them as something not a machine?"

"We gave them life, didn't we?" asked Zaal. "Of course I would. They are the quarian people's children, why would I say otherwise?"

"It's a machine, though," said Victus. "Machines are tools, aren't they?"

"They also have wills of their own," Pravuil immediately said, leaning forward.

" _Why are we even having this conversation?_ " the Dalatrass asked. " _It is not related to how useful that geth will be. And frankly, I don't think it will be useful if it will just turn on us like we all know it will!_ "

"And we don't know if it will," said Victus. "Better to let it do its work now, right?"

" _I never took you to be so naïve, Victus,_ " Sparatus added.

"It is not naïveté," Victus replied. "It's simply practical."

" _You forget what happened the last time this Council used something because it was 'practical',_ " Valern replied. " _I apologize, Victus, but I am not certain this will work._ "

And then, silence permeated the room. Nobody said anything, and everyone all looked around at each other. Jodie shrank back, looking around as Aiden trilled uncertainly. The silence eventually thickened in the air, and even Legion seemed unsure of what to say.

Finally, Tevos sighed. "As much as I am afraid of allying with a geth, it may be for the best," she said. "Victus may be right."

"I never thought you would be the type to agree to that," said Anderson.

"Don't forget we're here about one of the greatest threats to this galaxy." Tevos looked to Legion. "You know that there is much paranoia against the geth."

"Affirmative," said Legion. "We will confer with the collective about how best to work with organic fears of the geth."

"But is there a chance you'll turn?" asked Tevos.

"If our calculations determine that working with the other galaxy will be in the geth's best interest," Legion replied. "Addendum: our calculations do not foresee that outcome."

"Then you wouldn't mind a little extra scrutiny just in case?" asked Tevos. She then stood up. "Hopefully it will be nothing too invasive."

The geth's head flaps moved again. Legion paused, its flashlight head dimming. All eyes then narrowed as they looked at the geth. It stayed like this for quite a while, remaining in complete silence as it did.

"What is it doing?" asked Udina.

"Conferring with the Collective, I think," Zaal replied.

As soon as Zaal said this, Legion looked back up, the headflaps resuming their regular positions.

"There are some concessions we will accept," the geth replied. "What are they?"

Tevos smiled. "We can talk about that while we are here," she said. She then turned to Sparatus. "If it can be reasoned with, I don't see why we shouldn't form this alliance."

Sparatus sighed. " _I'm glad I know your judgment is usually sound on these things, otherwise I would have asked if you had lost your mind,_ " he said. He let out an aggravated sigh. " _Very well. I'll trust you two on this._ "

"As will I," said Anderson as he looked to Legion. "I just hope you're right..."

"They won't be the only ones," said Tevos. "I assume the krogan would be a valuable asset as well, if it came to total war."

"It wouldn't be a bad idea to show them some good will," said Kim. "The propaganda in our galaxy tends to treat the krogan as blameless victims of a cruel Hierarchy."

Sparatus, Victus, Valern, and the dalatrass all frowned. " _What?_ " Valern asked. " _But they started a war!_ "

"They like to conveniently omit the damage the krogan did, as I discovered in conversations with Sura," said Pravuil. "I know from orders that my superior was given one time that we would have approached the krogan people, similarly to how they hoped to approach the quarians."

"Then they would offer a cure for the genophage?" asked Victus. His eyes widened. "Can they do that?"

"Yeah," said Kim. "They could. They have the tech to do it, and they have the will. They know how strong the krogan can be."

" _But if that happened..._ " The dalatrass looked down. " _We'd have a second krogan rebellions on our hands!_ "

Jodie shook her head. "Not if we move first."

All eyes turned to Jodie. "What do you mean?" asked Victus.

"I mean we give them a genophage cure of our own," said Jodie.

" _Out of the question!_ " Dalatrass Linron replied. " _I_ _t will result in a repeat of the krogan rebellions!_ "

"And you risk getting a repeat of the krogan rebellions if you don't," said Kim. "Only this time, they'll have the backing of an entire galaxy. And who knows what will happen if _that_ comes to pass?"

" _She does bring up a compelling point,_ " said Sparatus. " _Either way, the krogan rebellions will happen again. It's not a good choice, but I would prefer to have them not be backed by an entire galaxy._ "

"I think we can all agree to that," Anderson replied.

The dalatrass scoffed. " _You have all lost your_ _minds!_ " she exclaimed." _If you think I will allow that again, I–_!"

Jodie immediately sighed, before clenching her fists and standing. "And this is _why_ that galaxy has a chance at getting the krogan on their side," Jodie interjected. "We're all talking about them like they're still going to do that!"

The dalatrass cocked her head to the side. " _They are not?_ " she asked. " _They are still brutes who will fight for no reason!_ "

"Krogan attitudes are changing," Jodie replied. "With Urdnot Wrex at the head, he–"

"I may remind you, he does not speak for all of the krogan people," said Anderson.

Jodie shook her head. "Maybe not, but he told me before I left the Normandy that he was going to try to do what was best for the krogan," she said. "And if I know him, he follows his word. He is not trigger-happy like the stereotype shows, and he knows what has become of his people. He _has_ known it for centuries. On top of that, I know him in person. He can be reasoned with. I did it myself on Virmire." She shook her head, before placing her hand on the table and pointing her index finger at it. "If anyone can keep the krogan in line and adjust their attitudes for the better, it's Urdnot Wrex. At the very least, I know he'll listen to other people, and he'll be an asset even if he doesn't speak for every krogan."

"Yes, but does he have the charisma to change people's minds?" asked Tevos. "It takes more than the ability to listen to change the course of a people."

"I think he might," said Jodie. "He's a likable man, and he's commanded the respect of a lot of people." She shook her head, stepping back. "Let me talk to him on his homeworld. At the very least, I can try to convince him not to take this galaxy's genophage cure."

"It might not keep all the krogan from going to that galaxy, though," Kim replied.

"No, but it'll at least ensure that not all of the krogan turn," said Jodie. "I don't know how successful he's been, but if I know him, he's had to have some success. And that's better than nothing."

"It wouldn't hurt," Zaal offered.

Anderson nodded. "Alright, Jodie," he said. "I'll trust you on this."

" _Just know that you've got one hell of a burden on your shoulders,_ " Sparatus said. He then paused. " _Though I don't suppose you need to be reminded, considering what you've already been through._ "

"Trust me, I know," said Jodie.

The dalatrass sighed. " _Very well, do what you wish,_ " she said. " _But just remember when the krogan override the galaxy that I warned you._ "

"Unlike you, I have hope it won't come to that," Jodie replied, glaring at the dalatrass' hologram. She then turned away, looking to all the others. "Now, what else can we do here?"

"I have files to give you that could help make your lives easier hunting Cerberus," said Kim. "I can give them to all of you after this meeting."

"I think we'd appreciate that," said Hackett. "It'd give us a place to start."

"And we will have to confer with the admiralty board as well," said Shala'Raan. "If I had known how serious this would be..."

"And then there is the matter of what to do with you." Tevos then turned to Sa'lem, before taking the time to glance around the room at various other alien species. "Where do we keep you?"

"Well, that depends," said Pravuil. "Some of us have particular skills that can aid you in certain ways. Some of us know how the authorities work. And some..." He turned to Sa'lem. "Some are simply civilians."

"I would like to stay close as a confidant," said Kim. "My guys Jile and Vi'ram are going to stay with me. We'll need to be the Punargathana liaison, and if we do it right we can provide information."

Hackett nodded. "Of course," he said. "That'll come in handy."

" _Will the intel your group gains be shared with the rest of us?_ " asked the dalatrass.

"Of course," said Kim. "It'd defeat the point of an alliance otherwise, wouldn't it?"

" _My thoughts exactly,_ " the dalatrass replied, crossing her arms in front of her.

"We've also picked up various examples of their technology on our way back," said Jodie. "We'll be turning those in to the Alliance so they can examine it for themselves, along with any notes we've taken."

"And we'll make sure that information gets distributed to everyone else," said Hackett. He then looked to Zaal. "Even the quarians."

Zaal nodded. "We would appreciate that," he said.

"And what about Sa'lem and Druvak?" asked Jodie. "They're only civilians, and they'll need to be placed under protection. We have a third civilian with us who will need to be placed under protection, too. What do we do about them?"

"We can place them under the protection of the Hierarchy," Victus suggested. "I have the feeling we'd have to get levo supplies, though..."

"Yeah, we don't have dextro species over there," said Kim.

"Perhaps it would be safer to keep them on Thessia, then?" asked Tevos. She then stood up. "I know many matriarchs who I owe favors. Perhaps we can have them pass there?"

"Hopefully the living spaces are comfortable," said Jodie.

"They will be," Tevos replied. "A few have villas on Thessia. Secluded ones. And if we deal with the paperwork in just the right way..."

Kim nodded. "I hope you will keep them safe," she said. She then looked to Pravuil. "And as for you?"

"If it's all the same, I think I should stay on the sidelines for now," he said. "I could be used to gather intelligence, but at this moment, they would know to avoid me."

"I suppose you still have your uses, though," said Victus. He then leaned forward, giving Pravuil a smile. "You seem to know a lot about the DGI and how it moves."

"I do my best, yes," said Pravuil.

"Then perhaps you can help us determine how they might move, and how to deal with that," said Victus.

"You're not sending in stealth units of your own, are you?" asked Kim.

"We might," Victus replied. "All hands on deck, as they say."

Pravuil rubbed his cheek. "I will consider it," he said. "I admit, it will be strange reading their moves."

"I think you'd be good at it," said Kim. She then leaned over. "If there is nothing more to deal with?"

"Not that I can think of," said Anderson. "Apart from the Shadow Broker."

"Allow me to deal with him," said Tevos. "I have an idea about that."

Kim nodded. "Then I guess we'll adjourn for today," she said. "We know the general game plan, we can hammer out details another time." She then looked around, scanning everyone in the room. "Your vital signs are all relatively depleted."

"We did have some pretty interesting travel today," Anderson commented.

Kim nodded, looking to the holograms. "If you have nothing else to say, I think our business here is concluded for now."

"We will call you when we meet again," said Tevos.

" _Very well,_ " said Sparatus.

" _Remain cautious,_ " said Valern. " _We have much to worry about._ "

" _I hope we've made the right decision,_ " the Dalatrass added.

And with this, the holograms went out. With this, Jodie let out a sigh of relief, before standing up and stretching her arms.

"That was exhausting," she said.

"No kidding," said Victus. He then turned to Legion. "I assume we'll be staying back on the ship?"

"Negative," Legion replied. "We have prepared other rooms in this building for the use of the organics. Addendum: if there is anything you need, do not hesitate to ask."

"That's... awfully kind of you, but I think I'll still have to get used to a geth not shooting at me," Shala'Raan replied. She let out a deep exhale, before looking to Zaal. "I guess we were right to trust in you."

Zaal nodded. "I am glad this payed off." He then looked to the others. "Well, shall we?"

"Yes," said Tevos. She then stood up, all of the other dignitaries doing the same as they walked to Legion. "So where do we sleep?"

The geth's head flaps moved a little, before it then gestured to the door. "We have several units set to lead you to your destination," it said. "Addendum: good night."

Tevos cracked a small smile. "Polite," she noted. "I would not have expected that."

"I don't think anyone would," Udina noted. He then turned, exiting the door. "Let's see where we go."

And slowly, the large group left, chatting amongst themselves tiredly. Kim, Jodie, Liara, Ashley, and Kalo remained behind, as did Pravuil, Sa'lem, Druvak, and Legion. They all watched the group leave, and it was then that Vi'ram and Jile stepped forward from where they had hung back, quietly listening to the whole conversation. After a little bit, all of the dignitaries were out of the room, and Jodie let out a sigh of relief.

"I never liked sitting in those meetings," she admitted. "They always feel so stuffy."

"At least it was not an intelligence meeting," said Pravuil. "Though it could be considered one."

"Well, at least it didn't go too badly," said Liara. She sighed nervously, before glancing to the side. "It didn't go entirely according to my expectations, though."

"Hey, we managed to get them all in the same room with a _geth_ without them shooting at each other," Ashley pointed out. "I'll call that a victory."

"The question is, can we maintain that?" asked Kim. "That's the most important thing."

Sa'lem then looked up at the door. "You know, I've got the feeling we can," he said.

Jodie nodded. "I think so, too," she said. "And if anything, we can be optimistic about how we handle this."

"We've got to hope for the best," said Ashley. She then leaned back. "And right now, it's not too hard to do that."

* * *

Admiral Kalpalan sat at his desk, simply staring at the files on his desk. The Parliament had left physical copies of the files there, and he knew that that itself was a sign. They did not make it a habit of leaving physical copies with any military men unless there was an absolutely good reason to do so, as everyone knew a digital copy was enough.

Still, Kalpalan knew it was a message. And he shuddered to think about that message.

He knew it was not that he would be up for evaluation: if that were the case, he knew he would have been brought for evaluation before a day had even passed. He had heard there would be multiple people on evaluation after the debacle that had just occurred, and he had feared that he would be one of them. He knew what evaluation entailed, after all, and he dared hope he would not face it, particularly after he had personally escorted Ru'val to his own evaluation.

But there the file sat. And as he looked at it, he dared not open it. He knew it would contain all the names of every official sent into evaluation. He knew it would contain every single DGI person involved in the break, he knew it involved the architect of the Tayurmya, it involved many others... some were people he had known personally. And they had all been brought in for evaluation.

And the files on his desk confirmed he had been considered for evaluation.

The thought made his toes clench up. He blinked, swallowing a thick lump in his throat. The praetorin felt a little cooler in the room, and this caused his tail to droop.

Finally, he shook his head, putting the files to the side. He had other things to concentrate on.

For one, would be coordinating with the DGI.

_I only hope the project is on track..._


	25. Chapter 25

The specific negotiations took a little bit of time. Jodie was almost thankful she was counted out for a majority of those meetings: one large meeting was enough for her. She almost marveled at Anderson's patience throughout the whole procedure, and at the same time she felt relieved that she finally had a chance to breathe after everything that had happened.

She used the time in question to explore some more of Rannoch. It had a natural beauty that was as intoxicating as it was exotic, and she drank it all in. Even as she did, she could not help her constant comparisons to her own home on Earth. She found them very similar, though the geth mentioned that forests of the variety she knew from Earth were not present on Rannoch. She was slightly dismayed by this fact, but understood Legion's explanation.

When she was able to, she also spent time with Kalo'Veera. The two grew ever closer as they strolled through the streets of the old quarian city. Kalo remained rather healthy throughout their stay on Rannoch, but Jodie did not want to chance it: Kalo did not take his mask off again for her. They were still rather glad of their situation, though, and they spent time to explore the city.

This was not to say that she never spent time with anyone else. She did what she could with the others when they were not being carted between meetings. It was a rare sight to see Kim given how important she was, but she still stayed rather up to date with learning more about Pravuil and Sa'lem. Druvak even turned in some time with Jodie. But most of all, she learned more about Kolyat and Ashley.

All in all, the negotiations took about a week and a half to sort out. It had been a very long week of non-stop arguments, and Jodie had never seen politicians get so worked up over anything. But she knew how high the stakes were, and she allowed them to go on. And at the end of it, all of the plans were laid out across everyone in the galaxy. They were rather comprehensive plans, and Jodie knew that they would be very interesting to see play out.

And so, it came time to leave Rannoch.

* * *

"It feels strange to know Rannoch will soon become a place where galactic history will be made once again."

Jodie turned to Admiral Zaal'Koris as he approached his shuttle. Jodie stood with Kalo and Legion, the three of them regarding Zaal and Shala'Raan as they approached their regiment of quarian marines.

"It feels so strange to be in the center of it as well," said Kalo. "At least this time, our history made here will be based on something more positive."

"We will have to hope," said Shala. She then looked down. "Even though I have explained what I can to Rael'Zorah, I fear giving him these files in person."

Jodie nodded, stepping forward and gently grasping Shala's shoulders. "If there is anything I can do, don't hesitate to ask," she said. "Tali is my friend, just as much as she is a daughter figure of yours. And if I can help, I want to."

Shala nodded. "Thank you, Jodie," she said. "It gives me hope that you have not given up on her."

"She was my first friend on the Normandy," said Jodie. "I'm not about to give up on her now."

"And I will not either," said Shala. "I will see what I can say to her." She then turned to Kalo. "Good luck seeking out Doctor Solus."

"Thank you, admirals," said Kalo. He then bowed his head. "As soon as I am ready, I will send another message to Yira."

"I look forward to it," said Zaal. He then turned to Legion. "I have to say, you have made an exemplary host."

"No kidding." All heads turned to one of the marines behind Zaal, who remained unarmed. "I think I got my best sleep in years there." He then turned to the marines. "Right, boys?"

The marines nodded or otherwise answered in the affirmative. Jodie couldn't help but chuckle and smile at this, before turning to Legion.

Legion's head flaps moved. "We are pleased to know we have met expectations," it said. "We will store this in our data."

Shala nodded. "Thank you, Kalo," she said. "This will be a huge step forward for the quarian people, though I don't know if we will be able to convince them to aid against Cerberus."

"You will find a way," said Kalo. He then looked past the shuttle. "We will hopefully see each other soon."

"Indeed," said Zaal'Koris. He then bowed his head. "Keelah se'lai, Kalo'Veera vas Lying Bastard."

Kalo jumped in surprise, before leaning forward. "Sir, I have not yet completed my Pilgrimage!" he said.

And as Zaal turned, Jodie could only see the faintest hint of a smile. "As far as I'm concerned, you have," he said. "I look forward to your return to the Fleet."

With this, the other quarians boarded. The marines stepped in first, followed by Zaal and Shala. The shuttle took off soon after, and then Jodie and Kalo watched as it raced out of Rannoch's atmosphere. They remained there, Legion stepping up to them.

"It all depends on them now," said Kalo.

"Affirmative," said Legion. "Alert: Anderson-Councillor will leave shortly."

"Ah, that's right," said Jodie. She then looked to Kalo. "Well, let's see them off, shall we?"

"Of course," said Kalo. "After you, Jodie."

Jodie smiled, before walking ahead of Kalo as they walked away from where the shuttle had launched off.

* * *

"This is going to be a difficult job, keeping all of this a secret."

Anderson said this as soon as Jodie came up to them. Kalo stood behind Jodie, and behind Anderson Jodie could see Tevos speaking gently to Sa'lem and Kolyat. Victus and Hackett stood behind Anderson, the two of them looking down at Jodie.

"It is," said Jodie. "And if we've learned anything here, it doesn't take very much to crack secrets like this."

"And with this many people, we risk the secret coming out even more," said Kalo. "But it cannot be helped, at least not until Cerberus is taken down."

"That it can't," Anderson replied. He bowed his head. "If only it could..."

The others nodded, before Victus shifted his weight between his feet. "And here, I thought humanity's worst enemies would be the batarians for the longest time," he noted. "I didn't think we'd fight their doppelgangers, too!"

Jodie blinked. "Oh, speaking of batarians..." She leaned towards Hackett. "How is Balak?"

Hackett bowed his head grimly. "It's exactly how Anderson said you'd describe it," he said. "Balak has gone completely insane, and the things he talked about before he lost it completely seem to have lined up with what you said."

Jodie took a shaky intake of breath. "That's..." She nodded grimly. "Dammit." She shook her head, thinking back to her mother. "I keep feeling like there's something I could do to help him."

"Well, unfortunately, nothing they've tried has worked," said Hackett. He then looked up. "Though I guess we could always try your little ghost friend."

"He might be able to break through it," Jodie replied. "But that's a very big 'might'. I don't know if there is anything he can do."

"We can always take that chance," said Anderson. He then looked to where Ashley Williams stood next to Legion. "Expect those Alliance scientists to arrive within the week once we have briefed them on the mission related to this battleship."

"You got it, sir," Ashley replied. She then bowed. "And what about those prisoners already on the battleship?"

"We'll take care of that," said Victus. "The prisoners will be in transit to a Palaven prison shortly." He then looked to Jodie. "Don't worry, we'll make sure they're treated humanely."

Jodie nodded. "Thank you," she said.

Anderson nodded. "This is going to be rough, Jodie," she said. "My faith in you was well-placed, but sometimes I wish it hadn't opened _this_ up."

"I do too, sir," said Jodie. She then rubbed the back of her head. "The harder part is going to be figuring out how to undertake the world tour without catching their attention."

"We've got that covered," said Anderson. "You'll be receiving a new vessel within the week. And once you get it, that is when your tour begins."

"Excellent," said Jodie. "Hopefully I will be able to see you at the end of the tour."

"I'm counting on it," said Anderson.

With this, Anderson nodded. He then stepped back, and it was only when Jodie turned that she saw Tevos approach with Sa'lem and Kolyat. Druvak stood slightly behind, his head bowed reverently.

Jodie nodded, looking to Kolyat first. "Are you okay?" she asked.

The drell sighed. "I think I'll be okay," he said. He then looked to Ashley. "Tell Valentine that he's a good guy the next time you see him, alright?"

Ashley smiled, before stepping forward and clapping her hand on his shoulder. "You got it, kid," she said.

Jodie nodded, before bowing her head. "I'm sorry," she said. "For getting you involved in all this."

Kolyat nodded grimly. "Well, I guess I can't say it wasn't totally worthless," he said. He chuckled. "You know, it's funny. I used to think I had it rough." He then sighed, looking to the ground. "You don't realize just how much you have until you've seen someone die."

"Yeah," Jodie agreed.

Kolyat nodded, before looking to Tevos. "You're going to tell my aunt and uncle I'm okay, right?" he asked. "Even if I can't contact them, you can at least tell them I'm alive and well, right?"

Anderson smiled. "I think that's a possibility," he said. "I imagine that galaxy knows you're alive, letting them know as much won't make much of a difference."

Kolyat nodded, a small smile coming to his face. "Thanks," he said. He then bows down. "And tell them that if they ever speak to my father again... tell them I want to talk to him. I need to ask him some things. And tell them that I miss them so much, and I'm sorry for doubting they ever cared."

Anderson nodded. "I'll make sure to do that," he said.

Kolyat's smile broadened slightly. "Thank you," he said. He then bowed to Anderson, before turning to Jodie. "Good luck on your mission. I know you'll need it."

Jodie nodded, before smiling back. With this, Kolyat stepped back, and Sa'lem stepped forward, grasping Jodie's arms.

"Elzabet Nohr..." He looked down. "I get the feeling that name isn't as foreign for you as I thought."

"I fashioned it from an old alias," Jodie replied. "Human and artician names are kind of similar in a few ways."

"Not really," said Sa'lem. "Shardan as a last name doesn't translate to Shepard. Well... not exactly, anyway. It's a long story." He then looked past Jodie, before shaking his head. "Well... My dad finally stood up for himself." He sighed, rubbing his arm. "I just wish I could feel happy about it."

Jodie nodded. "It's never as simple as you think," she said.

"I know that now." Sa'lem closed his eyes, bowing his head. "Well... I can't really do much right now. But if I get out of protection in whatever way, I'm going to do what I can to help people, no matter what." He nodded. "I've always said my father needed to do what was best, and I'm going to be a man of my word. I'm sure dad would've wanted me to be like that, even if he couldn't." He crossed his arms. "And don't worry about what I'll do. I'll find something."

Jodie smiled. "That's the spirit," she said. "You'll do great things in the future."

Sa'lem blushed a little. "Thank you for everything, Jodie," he said. "If everything works out, I get the feeling my galaxy will be a much better place. That's what I hope."

Jodie nodded, before stepping back and looking at Tevos. "Make sure they're looked after," said Jodie.

"I plan on checking in when I can," Tevos replied. "I still trust their caretaker quite a bit, but she always appreciates the visits."

Jodie nodded. "Well, I'll update you all on the tour," she said. "And if everything goes right? You'll be the first to know."

"Excellent." Anderson bowed to Jodie. "I look forward to hearing from you."

Jodie nodded cracking her knuckles.

"As will I."

* * *

Shala'Raan and Zaal'Koris stepped into the chamber, glancing at the two human occupants in confusion. One of them was a younger girl, and she remained seated close to where a tall, handsome man stood in the corner of the room. He then turned to the two admirals as they stepped into the room. Behind Zaal and Shala, the other three admirals walked in, before the door closed behind them.

"Well, you finally came," the tall human said. "The way the admirals put it, I was sure you'd be out for a while."

Shala frowned. "You came while we were absent?" she asked. She then turned to Gul. "And why were we not informed?"

"What is this about, anyhow?" Zaal asked. "We communicated several times, this could easily have been brought up."

"It's not that simple," said Rael. "When everything happened, you were already well on your way to returning home. And... Well, something happened that changes everything."

Gul nodded. "You'll be glad to know that it's nothing that'll change the terms of your agreement with the Council," he said. "If anything, I'm now _more_ willing to cooperate with them."

Zaal frowned. "What?" he asked. "What changed?"

The tall human then bowed his head, before pushing off the wall. "Cerberus attacked the Fleet while you were gone."

Shala and Zaal both flinched. "They... they what?" asked Shala.

Han nodded. "This is Hendel Mitra, by the way," he said. "He is ex-Alliance now, and he was helping the girl here get away from Cerberus." He then turned to the girl who was playing with a small ball of biotic energy, before squatting and pointing at Zaal and Shala. "Won't you say hello to the nice quarians, Gillian?"

The girl turned to the admirals, before nodding and waving. She then turned away, her attention remaining on the ball of energy she had. Han then stood up, before crossing his arms.

"Poor thing," he said. "I don't think she quite grasps what is going on around her."

"Why is she in the fleet?" asked Zaal.

"Gillian is a highly powerful biotic," said Hendel. "And of course, her father is part of Cerberus. Cerberus wanted to make a weapon out of her, and nearly convinced her father to bring her in. We managed to stop them from doing so, but not before the Idenna nearly got blown up by Golo'Mek."

"Golo?" asked Zaal. "We exiled him, didn't we?"

"We did," said Gul. "But it wasn't enough." He then turned to Zaal. "The point is, Cerberus attacked us. We managed to stop the attack before there were too many casualties, but I'm afraid the Idenna nearly sustained critical damage."

"It did not, though," said Shala.

"No, but it nearly did," said Rael. He sighed. "We will have to rethink our conditions with this alliance, not to curb them, but to expand them."

"And how does this affect Rannoch?" asked Shala. She then turned to Hendel. "Have you even told him anything about why we were there?"

"We gave him a brief version of events," said Han. He then crossed his arms. "And as for Rannoch, I still have reservations about this alliance with the geth. I only hope you are right."

"What he means to say is to think of this as a test run," said Gul. "We of course have no interest in taking down Cerberus like everyone else in this alliance you've constructed, and since we want them to leave us alone I doubt we ever will. But the Fleet can't stay like this forever, particularly if anyone of any affiliation attacks again. We'll need a home, and soon. And since you have begun negotiations on what will hopefully returns us to Rannoch, we thought perhaps we should see this through." He then stepped back. "I hope this doesn't come back to haunt us, but if it doesn't and you are right..."

"...then we will certainly return home sooner than we hoped." Zaal nodded. "Well, that is certainly some good news, but I wish it hadn't taken a terrorist attack for you to come to that conclusion."

"Neither do we," said Rael. "Therefore, we have much to discuss. But before we do..." He then turned to Shala. "May I speak to you a moment?"

Shala nodded, before moving towards the door of the room. "Of course, Rael," she said. "I was hoping you would."

Rael then turned to Gul and Han, bowing his head. "Apologies," he said. "I should only be five minutes."

With this, the two admirals stepped out into the hall. Rael glanced around to make sure nobody was eavesdropping on their conversation, before opening up his omnitool and tapping a few buttons on the interface. When neither of them heard anything unusual amidst the clamor of the Neema's engine, Rael nodded, before approaching Shala.

"Is it true?" asked Rael.

Shala nodded grimly, before opening her own omnitool. "Their exion gave me files which I read on my way here," she said. "The reports she compiled mentioned Tali several times, and one of them alludes to a special mission she did for them."

Rael then blinked, but before he could reply his omnitool alerted him to a file transfer. He looked at Shala, his eyes widening in shock. "A special mission?" he asked.

"Unfortunately, the file was corrupted beyond this exion's ability to repair," said Shala. "But she looked for something on their behalf just before returning to the Fleet."

Rael shook his head, before accepting the transfer with an unusually quick hand motion. "There would be no way..." Rael shook his head. "I can't believe it. I won't believe she would do a thing like that. I raised her to hope for a better Fleet."

Shala nodded. "When Jodie told me this, she told me she did not think Tali was intentionally attempting to betray the Fleet," said Shala. "It is tied to everything we know about their galaxy. I will try to talk to Tali, see what I can do. I only hope we can convince her to remember her loyalties before it's too late."

"I hope so too, Shala," Rael admitted. He then closed his omnitool, before looking to the ground. "I hope so too..."

* * *

Kalo and Jodie stepped into the small clinic rather quietly. They saw a couple of batarian patrons sitting on chairs off to the side, right under a big red medical cross that glowed. Jodie looked behind them to the security mechs they had passed, before turning her attention to the front desk.

Kalo looked to Jodie. "I hope this is the right place," he said.

"I'm sure it is," said Jodie. She then looked up. _What do you see, Aiden?_

The entity chirped in the affirmative. She then looked to Kalo, nodding. "He's here," she said. "He's just finishing up a surgery now."

Kalo frowned. "A clinic that does surgeries?" he asked. "That seems rather odd."

"Probably, but these people likely need it." Jodie sighed. "Shit... We probably shouldn't be dragging him out of this."

"More lives are at stake here, you know that," said Kalo. He then shrugged, before looking to another door within the clinic. "I do wonder if he will–"

And right on cue, the door opened. An old salarian with reddish-brown skin stepped out, and Jodie could tell immediately from the way he carried himself that he seemed rather pleased about something. As soon as he exited, the two batarian patrons stood up, both of them looking at the doctor expectantly.

"Is he alright?" asked one of the batarians.

The salarian nodded. "Yes," he said. "Operation quick. Little bit messy, but will live. Needs rest, lots of fluids. Will keep here for observation for two days. Can come for him then."

Jodie then turned to Kalo, her eyes widening slightly. She then turned back just in time to see one of the batarians nod, shaking Mordin's hand. "Thank you," said one of the batarians, smiling as his eyes watered. "We didn't know where else to turn. We thought since humans came here a lot we'd be thrown out, but..."

"All welcome in clinic," said the salarian. "Just exercise caution."

The two of them then nodded, before leaving the clinic. They began talking to each other in hushed, relieved tones as they left the clinic, not paying any mind to Jodie or Kalo as they exited. Jodie and Kalo stepped back to let them pass, and as soon as they passed they turned their attention back to the old salarian.

The salarian then turned to Jodie and Kalo. "New patients?" he asked. He then stepped forward, his eyes examining them. "No, no signs of injury or illness. Very well equipped, for lower ward of Omega. Too well equipped. Soldiers? Hm... Must be. Here to speak about something. But what? No insignas of affiliation, no banners. Obviously not mercs, no merc insignas on armor. What for, then? Need something? What would–"

"Okay, okay, slow down a little," said Jodie as she held her hands up. "That's... Jesus, I've never heard anyone talk so fast!"

"Can't help it," said Mordin. "Salarian metabolism faster than human metabolism, talk faster. Others forget that fact too easily, can't keep up." He then breathed in, before attempting to speak super slowly. "Wiiiilllll trrryyyyy toooo taaaaalk sloooowweeer."

Jodie and Kalo glanced at each other, before looking back at the salarian. "On second thought, maybe you should go back to speaking really fast," said Jodie.

"Very well," said the salarian. "Difficult to speak too slowly anyway. Unnatural on mouth." He then shook his head. "Apologies."

"It's alright," said Kalo. "Are you Mordin Solus?"

The doctor nodded. "Yes," he said. "Wished to see me about something? Perhaps armaments. Cannot accept."

"No," said Jodie. "But I believe you owe Councillor Velarn a few favors, right?"

Mordin immediately stood upright. "Councillor Velarn?" Mordin began to pace around. "Have not spoken since arrival at Omega. Sends you here. Why?"

"Well... we need your help, doctor," said Kalo. He then approached, pulling out the pouch with the immune system cure. "I have a revolutionary cure for the quarian's immune systems here with me."

Mordin perked up, before looking at the grey pouch. "Cure for quarian immune systems?" he asked. He then lifted the grey pouch, studying it carefully. "Not sure what this could mean. Quarian fleet? No, not enough resources. Cannot be STG, no interest in curing quarian immune systems. Human Alliance?"

"Try a parallel galaxy that might be trying to undermine the Council's authority," said Jodie.

Mordin frowned. "Parallel galaxy?" he asked. "Unlikely. No evidence, no reveal. First contact most likely."

"Yeah... it's a long story," said Jodie. "And it's one that we'd be more than happy to tell you once we've told you why we're coming to you."

"And this is proof of its existence," said Kalo. "I was their prisoner at one point, and they attempted to get me to bring it to the Fleet on their terms. They tell me it uses a mixture of nanomachines and mutagens."

"Hm..." Mordin examined the pouch. "Some sound theory. Nanomachines control mutagens, only two days of soreness at most. Solid cure." He then looked up. "Why come here?"

"Because we suspect there's something about this cure that's not quite right," said Jodie. "And we want to know more about how it works first, see if there are any anomalies." Jodie then leaned forward. "We'd be able to provide a facility if you can come. We think it would-"

"No," said Mordin. He turned away, looking around. "Only clinic in ward of Omega. Cannot leave. Need to stay. Too many patients, not enough doctors."

Kalo frowned. "Then you are not interested?" he asked.

"Scientific curiosity piqued," Mordin replied. "Need more than that to leave."

"Even the fact that it's top secret?" asked Jodie.

"Top secret?" asked Mordin. "Quarians should know."

"And the admirals know," said Kalo. "But there is so much more at stake here than you can imagine. This is the safety of the entire galaxy that this parallel galaxy threatens."

"You know that 'long story'?" Jodie asked. "To make it as short as possible, they've been monitoring this galaxy in secret for thirty years."

Mordin blinked. "Thirty years?" he asked. "Impossible. Slip-up would have occurred."

"Yeah," said Jodie. "But one of the races of the galaxy looks exactly like humans, so we think there may have been a large-scale infiltration to make it possible. We've discovered that Shepard is one of them."

"Commander Shepard?" asked Mordin. He frowned. "Preposterous. Need proof."

Kalo opened his omni-tool, looking at the doctor. "We have proof right here," he said.

Mordin paused, his eyes widening. "Oh." He then paused, before quickly opening his own omni-tool. He then began to skim over the information that poured in, his eyes flitting about everywhere as he took it all in. "Very in-depth. Lots of possibilities. Other galaxy denizens. Government records, other files... Will need to read more in-depth later." He then looked up. "Matter of galactic security."

"Yes," said Jodie. "It's a big matter of galactic security."

Mordin rubbed his chin. "May be something to it," he said. "Still, cannot leave clinic. Too many in need. Disappearance would also arouse suspicion. Call attention to project."

Jodie frowned, before raising her hand and pointing at the door Mordin had entered from. "What if we brought the facility here?" she asked.

"Possibility exists," said Mordin. "Will need equipment, safe space. Can spend time between facility and clinic if facility is close by."

Kalo nodded. "Then we shall see what we can do," he said. "And when we begin, I will be present to aid you."

"Good," said Mordin. "Will need assistants who know technology. Will need medical assistants as well. And test subjects. Preferrably animals, dextro based. Assuming mutagens are dextro-based."

"I think you'd be right to assume that," said Kalo. He then looked around. "We were given orders to call Councillor Velarn when we'd talked to you so we could work on the details. Are you able to do that?"

"Yes," said Mordin. He then looked over. "Come to back. Discussion better suited to secrecy there."

Jodie nodded. "Lead the way, professor."

* * *

The door to the estate opened. Kolyat pulled on his shirt a little, before taking in the sheer luxury around him. The space they entered was vast, with a shimmering chandelier hanging above the room. Opulent furniture was strewn about the room, the whole room awash with a vibrant emerald-green color, whether it was the velvet on a divan in the corner or the crystals in the chandelier itself.

And at the head of it all stood a matriarch in a bright green gown that Kolyat would never have expected an asari matriarch to wear. She was flanked by a pair of younger asari servants, both of them looking on as the matriarch adjusted the sleeves of her gown. Kolyat had to turn to Sa'lem and Druvak to make sure he was not seeing things, before finally turning to Tevos as she approached.

"Oh, Tevos, my dear!" said the matriarch as she splayed her arms out. "It's so wonderful to see you again!"

"Auntie Bel!" The councillor then moved forward, the two asari giving each other a very tight hug. "Did you change the color of the room again?"

"My dear Tevos, it's spring on Thessia," she replied as she parted from the hug. "Green is in season, don't you know?"

"Well, yes, but even the velvet?" asked Tevos.

" _Especially_ the velvet!" the matriarch replied.

Kolyat glanced to the servants, before stepping towards the matriarch. He almost introduced himself, but the words died in his throat as soon as he approached. Thankfully, he did not have to wait too long, for the matriarch turned to Kolyat, her gaze turning to Sa'lem and Druvak.

"Ah, and these are my new wards, I take it?" asked the matriarch.

"They are," said Tevos. She then turned to them. "Kolyat, Sa'lem, Druvak, this is Matriarch Belantha. She'll be taking care of you."

"And you must be... Kolyat?" asked the matriarch as she stepped towards the drell.

"Yes, ma'am," said Kolyat. "Um... pleasure to meet you."

"Oh, please, my dear, the pleasure is all mine," the old asari said as she bowed down. She then turned to Sa'lem, her eyes glinting in curiosity. "And this is one of those beings from that other galaxy you found?" She then walked over to him, giving him a look over. "Fascinating. I should like to meet the rest of your species in less... _interesting_ times."

"We'll see..." said Sa'lem. "It all depends on how this turns out."

Tevos nodded. "Now, you remember what I told you while they're here, right?"

"Utmost secrecy, nobody can know they're here except me and my servants, make sure they're out of sight," said the matriarch. "You can trust me to keep a secret. I've even cleared my schedule of any high society parties here for the next year."

"The next _year_?" asked Tevos. "But they're going to suspect something is up!"

"I meant here," said the matriarch. "I'm still expected to show up if it's outside, but any parties here have been cancelled. And if they ask, I'll just say I'm brewing a surprise. You _know_ how difficult it is to grow human vegetables on Thessia, my dear" She then turned to one of the servants. "And speaking of which, how are the tomatoes?"

"They're fine, ma'am," said the servant, a young asari who looked up with bright eyes.

Tevos nodded. "Alright," she said. "I would stay for far longer, but there is much business to take care of on the Citadel."

"Oh, leaving so soon?" Belantha asked. "You never stay long enough."

"Well, the galaxy is a busy place," said Tevos. She then leaned forward and gave her a hug. "I'll try to visit you some time soon, though."

"I look forward to it, my dear," Belantha replied as she returned the hug with gusto. She then stepped back. "As always, let your mind guide your heart to do what's best, my dear."

"You know it, Auntie Bel," said Tevos. With this, she turned to the exit. "Take care of them."

And with this, she exited the building. Kolyat simply watched the large doors close behind Tevos, before he then turned his attention to the inside of the house. "This place is huge..."

"How did a place such as this ever..." Druvak looked up. "I've never seen a place like this on the Obschesto."

"Well, my retirement fund had to go somewhere, dears," said Belantha. She gave them a warm smile, before walking over to all three of them. "Anyway, you'll be glad to know I have enough bedrooms for all of you separately." She turned to Kolyat. "I've even turned on the environmental controls in your room to set it to the driest setting possible. I know how drell are about humidity."

Kolyat's second eyelids nictated. "Oh. Uh..." He glanced down, giving a nervous smile. "Thank you."

Sa'lem nodded, before looking around. "So what now?"

"Well, I believe dinner should be ready soon," said Belantha. She then turned to one of her servants, another young asari with green face paint. "Right, Yelena?"

The servant nodded. "Yes, ma'am," she said. "Give it ten more minutes?"

"Ah, plenty of time to tour the premises," said Belantha. Her smile seemed to broaden yet again, and she bowed graciously to the side as she beckoned them along. "Well, let's do this tour, yes? I recently remodeled the game room, and I think you would absolutely love it!"

"Game room?" Sa'lem leaned forward, before smiling giddily and hopping a little on his feet. "I get to learn games from this galaxy! Show me more!"

Belantha then gave a grand gesture to them. "It's right this way," she said. "Come along!"

* * *

"And you're _sure_ about all this."

"Yes."

Jodie then took a step back, looking up at the Urdnot clan leader. Urdnot Wrex sat upon a makeshift throne of stone, his expression twisted into an angry snarl. He looked over to Liara and Ashley, his fist clenching as he glared at his two guards. The low growl that Jodie heard from Wrex caused her hair to stand on end, and she faintly noticed that the krogan standing next to the throne with his shotgun in hand also swallowed a little.

Finally, Wrex's growl evolved into a shout, and he slammed his fist hard into the arm rest of his throne. Jodie reflexively jumped back, her foot just barely managing to avoid an awkward placement on the rubble beneath her, Ashley and Jodie doing much the same themselves.

"That lying son of a bitch!" Wrex shook his head, before standing up. "Of course he wouldn't say anything."

Liara frowned. "You're not surprised by this?" she asked.

"He had a funny smell," said Wrex. "I'd never smelled it on any other human, but I didn't say anything because I thought maybe he was special."

"Well, you're not _wrong_ ," Ashley pointed out.

Wrex shook his head, stopping right next to Jodie. "I should've suspected something was up on Ilos after the way he acted around Vigil," he said. He then turned to Liara. "And his friends kidnapped you for knowing too much? Cowards, the whole lot of them!" He shook his head, before turning back to his throne and sitting back on it. "And to think, I trusted him. And _that's_ how he repays my trust? Shepard has a lot to answer for now. I hope he's answering it in the afterlife."

"I wouldn't say that just yet," said Jodie. "But anyway, that doesn't matter. From what we've gathered, he might want to curry favor with the krogan."

Wrex scoffed bitterly. "Over my dead body," he replied. "After how he lied, he'll be lucky if he comes off of this planet with his face intact."

Jodie crossed her arms. "I'm afraid it won't be as simple as that," she said. "See... some of the reports made mention of the fact they were trying to cure the genophage."

Wrex's eyes widened, before he leaned forward and gripped the ends of the throne's arm rests with enough force to crack the rock a little. "What?" he asked.

The guard, too, leaned forward. "A cure for the genophage?" he asked. He then turned to Wrex. "I'm going to assume this is the first you've heard of it."

Wrex growled, baring his teeth as he sat at the edge of the throne. "Of course," he said. He then violently waved his arm forward. "First he can't be bothered to tell us the truth about his history, and then he can't tell me about the genophage cure he himself is working on. Even after we destroyed Saren's cure." He shook his head bitterly. "I thought he could be trusted..."

"We all did, Wrex," said Jodie. She then stepped forward. "We all did."

Wrex stewed a little, before glancing to his guard. "And with a cure for the genophage... Imagine that, Gulvak!"

"That could help the krogan, sir," said Gulvak.

"And knowing what I know of these guys, it would really not be a good thing if you took them up on that," said Liara. "There's just something about this galaxy that I don't like."

"You're thinking they'll be like Saren, and how he wanted to use that cure?" Wrex asked.

"That's what all the signs point to," Ashley replied.

Wrex groaned. "So they'll just use us like puppets, like Saren tried to. Great." He shook his head. "If this gets out, this is going to complicate my attempts to unite the clans. It's already hard enough to keep those fools in line; a genophage cure could ruin everything."

"So you're not going to go after this genophage cure yourself?" asked Gulvak.

"No," said Wrex. "And if the neighboring clans have any sense, they won't either after how Shepard lied to me."

Gulvak scoffed. "You know they don't have that," he said.

"Yes." Wrex shook his head, before leaning forward and looking to Jodie. "Hate to tell you this, but the Council's going to have to offer their own cure if they don't want the rival clans to turn on us."

"We were afraid you'd say that," said Ashley.

"And we told them as much," said Jodie. "The dalatrass ruled it out, but-"

"Bah, that old bat doesn't matter," Wrex replied dismissively. "What's more important is getting the Council to see otherwise."

"They do," said Liara.

"Then we're in business," said Wrex. "Don't worry about me: now that you've told me this, I'm not taking this other galaxy's cure. I'm going to get hell for it, but I know Shepard in a way they don't. And if I can't keep the other clans in line, I know I can keep Clan Urdnot in check."

Jodie nodded. "I knew you'd say that," she said.

"You know me, runt," Wrex replied. He then leaned forward. "Still can't believe Shepard would lie like that, though. And you say Tali and Garrus can't be found?"

"Well, we know where Tali is now, but nothing I say right now can help," said Jodie. "And as for Garrus, nobody knows where he is. When Sura asked Pallin, he said he'd disappeared while we were gone."

"Damn." Wrex shook his head. "Well, thanks for telling me this. I've got a lot more work, but I know I have to do it. And with any luck, I'll have more of the clans united before they make their next move."

Jodie nodded. "Glad to hear it, Wrex," she said. "Now let's hope you succeed with that."

And with this, Wrex chuckled. "Oh, you'll see," he said. "The grunts in Urdnot don't call me a stubborn old man for nothing!"

* * *

Pravuil stepped in, looking around in awe at his surroundings. He then turned back to Victus, the older turian gesturing around to the various holograms that littered the room with information. He could not help but look around, marvelling even at a glance at just how in-depth the intelligence was.

"I take it you like this," Victus said as he gestured around the room.

"It reminds me so much of a DGI information center," Pravuil admitted. He then leaned forward. "And it is all organized? I never thought the turians had black ops, though then again I suppose it has done its job well if I am not aware of its existence."

"It's not just our black ops," said the general as he looked around. "As of right now, we're coordinating with the STG to ensure we get live updates that everybody else does."

"Coordinate the networks," said Pravuil. "That way, there are very few couriers needed to relay new information to everyone else if someone else discovers something before we do." He nodded. "That's a smart move. And very collaborative."

"This will have to be a collaboration," said Victus. "If we're going to preserve ourselves..."

"Indeed," Pravuil replied. He then walked up to a terminal, looking at all the information. "And I am supposed to analyze this and predict their next moves?"

"I think you would know best, considering you used to be part of them," said Victus.

"That is true," said Pravuil. He then nodded, looking down. "Well, this will be quite interesting. I have never been in a position to oppose them, but I must say I am strangely looking forward to it, if only because it will be an interesting challenge."

Victus nodded. "Then let's get started."

Pravuil blinked. "What, now?" he asked. "I didn't think you'd have data compiled so quickly! I hope it is not to track movement!"

"Oh, no, it's not that," said Victus. "Some of our black ops agents have identified a few parties. Before we take any action on them, we thought it'd be nice to confirm if they are or are not operatives."

Pravuil nodded. "I may know some," he said. "I remember meeting several operatives along the chain of command. And I know common traits to look for. Who do we have here?"

Victus walked over to Pravuil, leaning over the terminal and pulling up some information, including a picture and the statistics on the official ID. "We can start with him," he said. "Does this look familiar to you?"

"At first glance, no," said Pravuil. He then squinted, before leaning closer to the projection. "You can't really tell an artician operative just by looking at their face. Let me see what is in his history..."

* * *

Jodie walked alongside Xerxes and Kasumi, frowning as she crossed her arms. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"No," said Xerxes. The turian hurried along the various walkways of Illium, looking around as they moved quickly to a meeting point. "But if we can get them to work together, we might get intelligence hints faster from the Terminus systems."

"So much for going clean, right?" asked Kasumi.

Xerxes sighed. "At least it's for a good cause," he said. "And especially since I can't return to the Citadel now."

"This is still a dangerous game," said Jodie. "Letting them know about it too? That would be a slip!"

"And how are we going to get intel from the Terminus systems?" asked Xerxes. He shook his head. "I don't like this either, since mercs are kind of unscrupulous about how they deal with information. But at least we'll have ears in the Terminus systems."

"And they won't put ears in the Terminus systems themselves?" asked Jodie.

"It'd be seen as a declaration of war," said Xerxes. He shook his head. "Besides, I know these guys. They're the closest we can get to having actual batarians on our side. And that would be great, wouldn't it?"

Jodie sighed, before they stepped through a door to a shopping area. "I hope you're right," she said as she took a second to digest one of Illium's many urban vistas. "God, I hope you're right."

"Trust me, you'll see," said Xerxes. He then looked forward, his eyes scanning across the various asari shopkeepers as he stepped forward. He gripped at his cowl, his mandibles clicking worriedly as he glanced behind his shoulder.

And then, he caught sight of a batarian in blue armor. The man leaned back against a pillar, almost standing out amongst Illium's elite. He gazed around, scanning the crowd looking for something as he tapped his fingers impatiently against his arm. Xerxes swallowed slightly when he looked over at the batarian's direction, before he gestured to Kasumi and Jodie to follow him.

"There he is," he said, approaching rather quickly. "Spirits, I hope he's not angry..."

As soon as Xerxes came into view, the batarian pushed off the pillar, a grin coming to his face. "Well, well, well," said the batarian. "I guess going straight didn't work out so well for you, Xerxes."

"It was actually going quite well until Jodie here came into my life," Xerxes replied as he gestured to Jodie. "And don't think this means I'm going back to the Suns, Carhon."

The batarian shook his head. "Honestly, between all the drug trafficking and everything else, I was getting ready to throw the towel in until you called," he said. He then looked to Jodie. "So you're the famous Jodie Holmes Xerxes told me about."

"The one and only," Jodie replied. "It's good to meet you, Mr...?"

"Erash," the batarian replied. "Carhon Erash." He stepped forward, shaking Jodie's hand gently. "I heard you were part of the team that stopped Balak. Thanks for stopping him. The batarian people are better without him around."

"I wouldn't know if he's better off for it," said Jodie. She shook her head. "I know I shouldn't sympathize with a terrorist, but..." She chuckled. "It's nice to meet a batarian who _doesn't_ want to start by shooting at me."

"We're not all bad," said Carhon. He then turned to Xerxes. "Anyway, you had something you wanted to give to me?"

"A data packet," said Xerxes. He then opened his omni-tool. "I know you don't occupy a lot of power in the Blue Suns, but I know you at least have some connections in the Terminus Systems. I wish I could say more, but I can't in this public a place."

"You couldn't tell me any of this in a message, so you're not even telling me now?" asked Carhon.

"They might have eyes everywhere," Kasumi replied. "We'll need to find somewhere less populated to talk about it."

Carhon nodded. "Well, I have to run back to my shuttle," he said, walking along and gesturing them to follow. "For now, what do you expect me to do?"

"We need you to keep in contact with me," said Xerxes as he, Jodie, and Kasumi all followed him. "The best way I can explain it is that we're now fighting against an invisible enemy, and if the Council's actions are any indication this enemy may be forced out of Council space. We need you to help us monitor their positions in the Terminus systems: that way, it'll make it easier for us to dismantle their cells if we need to."

"Doesn't the Council have eyes everywhere there?" asked Carhon.

"Probably," said Kasumi. "But an extra pair of eyes is always nice."

Carhon chuckled, shaking his head. "Don't tell the Hegemony; by the next morning, you'd be a celebrity on Khar'shan," he said. He turned to Xerxes. "You know I don't have a lot of power or connections, but I'll do what I can. If I can get others involved..."

"I'm hesitant to let you do that, but I know it'll help," said Xerxes. "I just hope you exercise good judgment there."

"I know who my friends are," said Carhon. "Trust me, you won't have to worry about that at all." He then led them through more walkways, before he turned to Xerxes. "It's been quiet ever since you left the Suns. I missed having someone to talk to."

"You still can't make friends there?" Xerxes asked.

"I can, but... it's rare to see people that really _get_ you," Carhon replied. "I'm glad you haven't forgotten me."

"Forget you, Carhon?" He chuckled. "It'd take a lot to forget you, Carhon."

"Likewise," said the batarian. He then glanced back at Jodie, his arms loosening slightly as he walked along. "Anyway, we're almost to my shuttle. I hope you're not wasting my time, Xerxes."

"Believe me, you'll find it hard to believe that when I tell you what we're here for..."

* * *

"Hey Legion, get a look at this."

Legion turned its head to where Sura stood. The asari stood with a spare handcom in hand. Legion stood up, before looking at the asari.

"T'Lenya-Officer," said Legion. "Our data says Alliance scientists were already examining handcoms."

"Not this handcom in particular." Sura stepped back, Legion catching sight of the lab they were both in. A table stood in the center, and Sura turned, leaning against it as she held the handcom to the geth. "This one was the commander's handcom. We _just_ managed to relieve him of it."

Legion's flashlight head blinked out for a second, before the geth turned. "We suspect there are information blocks."

Sura nodded. "Exactly," she said. "Some of our technicians already tried it, but they're not having any luck, and Kim wanted to leave it to you. Give you the extra practice."

Legion nodded, before taking the handcom. Its flashlight head flickered for a brief moment, before the handcom opened. "Analyzing. Analysis will take approximately three minutes."

"Good." The asari leaned back, crossing her arms as she looked at Legion. "They've finally managed to start analyzing that plasma canon these guys have. Looks like a very complicated piece of tech, but they're working hard at taking it apart piece by piece. They've got to be careful."

"Geth will facilitate that," said Legion.

"I know," said Sura. "They were the ones who figured out how to get into the power source without blowing up half the ship." She chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck. "I guess I owe you an apology."

Legion looked up. It said nothing, but Sura simply looked at her feet. "I didn't think you could be trusted at all with anything. And now, here we are, taking apart an enemy battleship to learn its secrets. How to reproduce it. How to counter it." She shook her head. "And to think, it almost didn't happen."

"Our calculations have yielded correct results," said Legion.

"Yeah," said Sura. She sighed. "And..." She shook her head, looking to the side. "I'll always be angry about Rannoch. So many good people died then, and even if they would all have died by now anyway it ruined the quarians as a people. I don't know if I'll ever be able to look at you guys the same way. But this..." She looked out, looking to the battleship. "This is a start."

Legion's head flaps moved. "Note: we have data stored about Creators," it said. "Some creators aided geth."

Sura frowned. "Really?" she asked. "I didn't think they would've."

"Data on the Morning War is extensive," Legion replied. "Alert: we would be willing to show you some of this archive."

Sura paused, before tapping her hand on her arm. "Can I think about that a bit?" she asked. "It's a bit of a tall order to ask that of someone out of the blue."

Legion nodded. "We will ask again in case T'Lenya-Officer changes her mind," it said. Its headflaps then moved rapidly. "Analysis is done."

The asari flinched, before pushing off the wall and stepping towards Legion. "Already?" she asked.

"Affirmative," said Legion.

Sura chuckled. "Wow, you work fast," she said. "What's on the files?"

Legion's head flaps moved. "Names of a few operatives in hanar space. Alert: data is being prepared to be forwarded to Alliance and STG officials."

The ex-cop nodded, tapping her fingers on her arm. "Good," she said. "I wonder what else is on that handcom..."

* * *

Valentine sat back, looking outside of the cockpit as he placed his hands behind his head. "Well, here we are," he said. "Right back to where it all began."

Jodie nodded, looking over to Valentine. Ashley and Kasumi stood behind her, with Xerxes bringing up the rear as the pilot made final docking checks on the _Lying_ _Bastard_."So what'll happen with you?" she asked.

"I'll be called on whenever I'm needed," he said. "And knowing the Corsairs, I might be called into them."

"You're not technically with them, though," said Ashley.

"No, but I've done a mission for them, so it's all the same to me," said Valentine. He then turned to Kasumi, leaning over and looking at her as she walked past. "And what about you?"

"I have a greybox to track down," said Kasumi. "But if you guys ever need any extra help, don't hesitate to call on me. I'm just a phone call away."

Jodie nodded. "Of course," she said. "And as for me, I just have a report to hand in..." She then looked down. "I hope Kalo is alright on Omega."

"He's made of sturdy stuff, Jodie," said Valentine. "He'll be fine, provided he isn't scammed out of all of his research. You know how vorcha get sometimes."

Jodie nodded. "You're right, of course," he said. "But I can't help but worry about him. He's got the researchers with Mordin now, so I'll try to trust that he's safe."

"And Jile and Vi'ram are helping the Alliance intelligence guys sniff out impostors," said Valentine. "How long do you think it'll take them to realize that we were Alliance all along?"

"If we have our way?" asked Ashley. "Hopefully a while."

"Well, we also have to start figuring out how to deal with Cerberus," said Valentine. "Anyway, let's deliver that report, yeah?"

"Of course," said Jodie. "Come on, we shouldn't keep the Council waiting."

And with this, she started towards the airlock, everyone else following suit shortly afterwards.

* * *

It all became rather quiet shortly after Jodie turned in her report. After the turning in of the report, she was only told that there were more deals in the back rooms that needed to be made. She heard that Anderson had reached out to Wrex to seek a solution that would appease the krogan, and she also heard that the salarian dalatrass had begun to offer STG information to the Alliance.

It was of course good for collaboration, but the going became rather slow. Jodie knew it was simply a function of how the intelligence community worked: you had to pick your targets extremely carefully, and you had to be very cautious in how you picked up your information, or else all would be lost. It was still a little frustrating for her, but she had been in the business long enough to know why it was the way it was, so she paid it no mind, knowing that they would get their break eventually. But for the time being, she stayed put, knowing the Alliance would need to call her.

Thankfully, Ashley had been right: her fears were mostly assuaged by how rarely the Alliance called her. Sometimes, they did need her for a mission, but they were very good about being upfront on the mission parameters. Jodie briefly wondered if Ashley had something to do with how transparent they were, but she pushed that thought to the side: after all, she was grateful that they understood her need for transparency, so she took it gladly.

And so, the next five months passed with little incident, apart from the occasional intelligence mission. And it was so that, once again, Jodie settled into a routine. She went on a mission to gather information, she waited, she heard from everyone else, and life went on as usual.

Of course, she knew the routine would come to an end at some point. And for her, that came when she was sent to investigate a human colony known as Freedom's Progress...

* * *

"Right. Investigate the colony, figure out where everyone went, and see if we can retrieve that quarian. Shouldn't be too hard." _Right, Aiden?_

The entity clicked several times in agreement. Jodie smiled, before turning her attention to one of the quarians she had been sent with, one Lyra'Lal vas Neema. She stood at the ready, assault rifle strapped to her back as she looked at the gaggle of quarians surrounding them. She thought briefly about Tali's absence with the forces there, but she also remembered that Shala had told Jodie the admirals were putting her instead on a top secret mission that nobody but the admirals could know about. Jodie would have been lying to herself if she said she wasn't curious, but she knew deep down that the bigger reason was to keep Tali from doing missions for the parallel galaxy.

"Hard? With a human?" Jodie turned to one of the male quarians. She remembered that he had been introduced to her as Prazza. "I'm not sure what she's going to do to help us here."

"Quite a bit, soldier," Lyra replied. "Be quiet, it's the admiral's orders."

Jodie nodded, before looking over to Lyra. "Thanks," she said. "Now, where do we go from here?"

Lyra pointed ahead, to a prefab unit. "When we ran our scans, we found a vital sign deep within the colony," said Lyra. "He's the only one."

Jodie nodded. "How do we get there?"

Lyra nodded, before turning to a prefab building right by where she stood. "This way," she said.

She then approached the door, opening it with her omni-tool. She was surprised when the door opened immediately, and Jodie stepped into the prefab building. It was far too neat for comfort, with everything in its proper place. On the stove sat a pot of water, and it was plainly noticeable by the stench of over-steeped tea in the air that someone had just been brewing a drink. But there was nobody in there.

"What is that smell?" asked Prazza.

Jodie walked to the pot of water, noting how black the water had turned. "Tea," she said. "Looks like it's been here for a long time, though."

"It stinks!" said Prazza.

Jodie nodded grimly, before turning to Lyra and noticing a door at the other end of the unit. "It does," she said. "It's been steeping too long." She then opened the door. "This way?'

Lyra nodded. "Yes," she said. "Come on."

With this, Jodie and the group of quarians advanced past several more prefabs, and even more scenes of abandoned every day life. It was eerie, seeing that all that was left of the colony was scenes that felt as if people had just stood up and left everything where it was. There was not a single scratch on any prefab building in the area, and this disconcerted Jodie and the others, and it quickened their pace rather subconsciously.

Finally, though, they encountered something else: they saw the security mechs on the colony. Jodie had just stepped out of a prefab building, the quarians coming in just behind her, and in a small plaza in the colony they noticed a group of about three or four LOKI mechs scattered around. They, too, looked to have been left on the sidelines, none of them in a particularly active state. Jodie stepped towards the humanoid robots, stepping towards one of them gingerly.

"Even the security mechs were untouched..." said Jodie. "So why is it that Veetor-?"

And then, the mechs immediately began to spring up. They turned to where Jodie stood, and then before long, a red exclamation mark appeared on the holographic projection where the face would normally have been. With this, they all turned towards Jodie, raising their rifles.

Jodie gasped, realizing they were aiming at her. "Take cover!"

She managed to jump back into the prefab unit just in time, for then the LOKI mechs opened fire. The fire destroyed the windows at the prefab unit, causing the other quarians to scramble to duck beneath the gunfire. Jodie herself managed to press her back against a wall, looking past it and panting as the LOKI mechs fired on their position.

"What the fuck is this?" she asked.

"The mechs wouldn't be programmed to shoot on sight like that," said Lyra. "There's only one possible way this happened: Veetor must have reprogrammed them himself."

"All of the mechs?" asked Jodie.

"Looks like it," said Lyra. "It must've been one hell of a thing that came through to both make the colonists disappear _and_ make Veetor freak out like this." She then looked out, ducking underneath some fire. "Our best bet is to cut through the mechs to get to him, but we're just a small team."

"Well, I don't see very many options, so we're going to have to push through," said Jodie. Aiden clicked in the affirmative, before clicking four times for the number of mechs outside.

"I'm _not_ looking forward to facing the YMIR mech that's probably waiting for us," Lyra replied. She then grabbed a grenade from her utility belt, before tossing it in her hand. "Keep your heads down!"

As soon as she shouted this, she immediately threw the grenade past the window. All the quarians ducked down, and it took a second before the explosion sounded. Jodie then pulled out of cover, grabbing her assault rifle and noticing two of the mechs laid in pieces on the floor in front of the prefab. She then looked past the mechs' remains, before lifting her gun and shooting at one of the mechs in the back. It went down after a few shots, and then the quarians chimed in. It took out the last mech standing there, but before anyone could do much else a group of drones flew in.

Jodie grit her teeth. "Shit." She then watched as a prefab door opened on the other side of the plaza, and a few more LOKI mechs poured out into the plaza. The mechs then turned to the quarians, before opening fire and forcing them all into cover.

"Dammit, someone hack one of the mechs!" shouted Lyra.

"On it!" Prazza peered out of cover, pointing his omnitool at one of the mechs closer to the back. This mech sparked a little, before it turned right to the other mechs and began firing. This gave Jodie a break she needed, and she pulled out of cover to shoot at another mech. This mech went down quickly, and before it fell to the ground, Jodie turned just in time to see the other LOKI mechs shoot the hacked mech.

Another quarian then popped out of cover, and Jodie saw one of the mechs spark and collapse to the ground from the shock of an overload. She then turned, shooting at the last mech. She quickly advanced to the next piece of cover, looking up as she shot at one of the drones.

"Go, go!" Lyra shouted.

The quarians all filed out of the prefab unit, shooting at the drones overhead. Prazza was the last to leave, and he narrowly dodged a jolt of electricity from one of the drones. He turned and shot it down, the drone falling to the floor immediately. The group turned, before moving quickly through the prefab units. "We're headed to the center of the colony, right?"

"That's where the life sign was, yes," said Lyra. "We've got to move quickly, before more of those mechs come and-"

And then, they came out to a larger plaza. The group suddenly stopped, seeing the YMIR mech right in front of them. It whirred upon seeing them, and a whole host of LOKI mechs began to stand up.

Jodie growled as Aiden trilled in alarm. She then shook her head. "Dammit..."

"Of course it wouldn't be that easy." Lyra then shook her head, turning to Prazza. "We've got no other choice. Prazza, hack one of the LOKI mechs. Take out the other LOKI mechs with it, but above all else, _distract the YMIR_! We'll try to pick off the LOKI mechs." She then turned to another quarian. "Tulo, prepare an overload. Got it?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

With this, Prazza was the first out of cover. He dashed as fast as he could to a nearby crate, and he ducked down underneath it just in time for a missile to go sailing overhead. It exploded on a part of the prefab building right behind him, and Jodie frowned as she saw the LOKI mechs fire on Prazza's position. She then growled, before looking up at Aiden.

 _There has to be something you can do!_ she thought.

Aiden clicked in the affirmative. She then looked out, seeing Prazza duck with his omni-tool arm out. After a few seconds, though, Jodie's attention was captured by one of the LOKI mechs flying in the air. It collided right into the YMIR mech, falling into pieces as it made contact. The YMIR mech then turned, before filing a bunch of missiles at the air from which the LOKI mech had come from, which also distracted the LOKI mechs.

It gave Prazza the opportunity he needed. He then pulled out of cover, hacking into the nearest LOKI mech. It then turned, managing to shoot at one of the other LOKIs before turning its attention to the YMIR mech. Jodie nodded, gripping her assault rifle close to her and rushing out into cover right by the YMIR mech. Most of the other quarians followed suit, and it was then that Jodie really wished that someone had the foresight to send them in with a rocket launcher.

The YMIR mech turned, before firing a rocket at the LOKI mech that Prazza had hacked. This gave some of the quarians reason to pause, but as Jodie looked on one of the other quarians turned and launched his overload at teh YMIR mech. The overload was enough to take down its shields, but Jodie looked down at her assault rifle.

"You're sure this will do damage to it?" she asked.

Lyra nodded. "It's our only option," she said. "We have no–"

And then, the YMIR mech stumbled. Jodie blinked in surprise, but before she could say anything more she saw something plunge into the YMIR mech's behind. As soon as she saw this, a man climbed up the back of the mech, before lifting the object. This man then stabbed it back into the mech with extreme prejudice, the mech eventually falling to its knees before he then pulled back. He then took a couple of steps back and watched as the mech exploded. He did not even flinch from the small explosion, and the quarians that remained all huddled together.

Prazza looked past Jodie's shoulder. "What... What was that?"

It was not until the deafening silence that Jodie noticed two things. The first, was that as the man pulled back, he saw two people step out of cover. One of them was a black-haired woman, and the other was a man with dark skin. She noticed the Cerberus insignia on their uniform, and she flinched as she analyzed it.

But then, the man in the center turned back to face them. And Jodie found roots take hold in the floor beneath her when she saw the man's face. It was scarred in a way she was unfamiliar with, but nevertheless, this face caused her heart to nearly stop. Aiden gurgled lowly, but she paid no attention to that as she analyzed the man before her, wanting desperately not to believe she was seeing what she saw.

But there it was. The familiar N7 armor, that familiar blade, _those eyes_...

Jodie swallowed, hoping the man before her didn't see her fear.

"Sh... Shepard?"

* * *

**End of Part 2**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Wow, holy shit, and we finally get to the end of Part 2. That took way longer than I thought it would. So many of my ideas changed as we went through this story, and it didn't help I've got a ton of writing projects now.
> 
> Nonetheless, I do not plan on abandoning this any time in the near future. And to that effect, we've now moved into ME2, which I've bumped up in the timeline. But here's the thing: that's not the only change to canon here. See, what we'll have here is the opposite of what Parallel Realities gave us, which was a poor excuse to regurgitate the entire ME franchise. Here? We're soon on a launching point where we diverge from the franchise. Already, most of Mass Effect 2 will be highly different, and indeed that's the point: this take on ME2 will essentially present a truncated version of ME2, before it gives way to original plotting. The squad seen in ME2 will only feature about half the cast of ME2, and we'll actually be stopping at about the game's halfway point, not to mention several scenes will be cut. Most characters will be placed elsewhere, too: you already know Mordin will be one of them, but I will mention now that he will not be the last character who will see a shift in importance to the plot of the ME franchise around this point.
> 
> So yeah, folks. This is gonna be a wild one. Stay tuned for when I finally get around to starting Part 3: Twilight of the Idols.


End file.
